Founded: around 1915 - Princeton, New Jersey, USA

The 40-voice Westminster Choir (= WCC), comprised of undergraduate and graduate students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J., the Westminster Choir regularly tours throughout the USA and in Europe. For 21 years it was the chorus-in-residence for the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy. Since 1977 it has been the chorus-in-residence for the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, S.C. In 1996 it made its debut at the Colmar Festival in Colmar, France.

As part of the Westminster Symphonic Choir of 175 voices, the Westminster Choir has performed with major orchestras under virtually every internationally known conductor of the last 70 years, including, Toscanini, Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy, Leonard Bernstein, Mehta, and Muti. It has sung over 300 performances with the New York Philharmonic alone, and has appeared frequently on public television's "Live from Lincoln Center." The Choir’s conductor is Joseph Flummerfelt, artistic director and principal conductor at Westminster.

This season the choir performed the complete choral works of Aaron Copland at Avery Fisher Hall in a concert presented by the New York Philharmonic. Last season the choir performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Kurt Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic; Mahler's Symphony No. 3 and Debussy's Nocturnes with Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Mark Laycock conducting the Princeton Chamber Symphony; Mendelssohn's Elijah with Wolfgang Sawallisch conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra; and J.S. Bach's Missa Brevis No. 1 in F and O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht with Joseph Flummerfelt conducting the New Jersey Symphony Chamber Orchestra.

Recent performances have included Mussorgsky/Schebalin's Dream of the Peasant Grischko from The Fair of Sorotchinsky with Zdenek Macal conducting the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Britten's War Requiem, with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic and Debussy's Le martyre de Saint Sebastien with Kurt Masur conducting the New York Philharmonic.

Joseph Flummerfelt and the Westminster Choir have made several recordings on the Gothic label including Christmas with the Westminster Choir; The Westminster Choir Sings Folk Songs; Favorite Hymns and Anthems and, most recently, Westminster Choir at Spoleto Festival USA. The Choir's most recent recordings include, O Magnum Mysterium and Like as a Hart on the Chesky label and Singing for Pleasure on the Delos label. Its newest recording, Twentieth-Century American Choral Classics, with members of the New York Philharmonic and Joseph Flummerfelt, will be released later this season.

As part of the larger Westminster Symphonic Choir, the Westminster Choir has made over 50 recordings on the Columbia, RCA, EMI, Deutsche Grammophon and Philips Classics labels.

Source: Rider University Website (February 2001); Liner notes to the CD ‘Bach: The Motets’ conducted by Wilhelm Ehmann (Gothic, 1978)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (August 2001)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Wilhelm Ehmann

Choir

BWV 225-230

Joseph Flummerfelt

Choir

Selection from BWV 248

Bruno Walter

Choir

BWV 244 (1^st Part)

Links to other Sites

Westminster Choir College Home Page
The Unofficial Westminster Choir College Page

Westminster Choir College Of Rider University
Westminster Choir

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