The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers
The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers (formerly known as The Greenwich Village Singers) is about to commence its 41st season performing secular and sacred choral music of all periods. The mixed chorus of approximately 40 voices, based in Greenwich Village, attracts members from all over the greater New York metropolitan area. Led by Music Director Mark Mangini, The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is a recognized creative force in New York City’s music community.
The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is a vibrant choral ensemble, known for its sociability and inclusiveness, in addition to the intimacy of its performances. The group has a strong commitment to support the community in which it resides, often performing for charity and with other community groups. Over the three decades of its existence, the chorus has performed a wide variety of works, including the Handel oratorios Israel in Egypt, Judas Maccabaeus, Messiah, and Solomon. Baroque and pre-baroque composers also include Bach, Schütz, Monteverdi, Charpentier, and Vivaldi; other performances have encompassed settings of the Mass by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Bruckner, Dvoràk, Kodály, Stravinsky, and Rossini. The group’s repertoire also includes a cappella works by Victoria, Palestrina, Byrd, Poulenc, Duruflé, Monteverdi, and Bruckner, and twentieth-century works by Respighi, Barber, Britten, Honegger, Copland, Ives, Rutter, Bernstein, Hoiby, Rorem, Earnest and Spratlan. In 2007 the Greenwich Village Chamber Singers teamed with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and the Choral Society of the Hamptons to produce two gala performances of American composer Lukas Foss’s monumental secular cantata The Prairie. Subsequent collaborations with the Choral Society of the Hamptons include performances of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem in June and July, 2009 and of Mozart’s Grand Mass in C Minor in June, 2011. In 2010, the chorus also collaborated with the Amor Artis Chorus and Orchestra, led by the late Johannes Somary.
The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is committed to the presentation of new works by contemporary composers. This has included two newly-commissioned world premieres in 2005 by Walter Hilse and Jonathan David. The chorus has produced three live concert CDs,In Dulci Jubilo, Natale in Venezia and Dido & Aeneas, and a studio recording of a cappella works entitled My Spirit Sang All Day. The group’s season typically runs from early September through late May. Rehearsals are held on Wednesday evenings at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 224 Waverly Place at 11th Street in Manhattan.
The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is the registered “doing business” name of Village Singers, Inc., a New York not-for-profit corporation qualified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is operated entirely by a volunteer Board of Directors, and has no employees. The Music Director and rehearsal accompanist are compensated as independent contractors.
The Greenwich Village Chamber Singers is proud to be a member of the following organizations:
