Our History

1940s

December 30, 1945
The Rochester Oratorio Society of the Junior Chamber of Commerce performs its first concert: Handel’s Messiah, at Strong Auditorium at the University of Rochester. J. Theodore Hollenbach, Conductor.

1946: Leonard Bernstein conducts the Rochester Oratorio Society in Liszt's Faust Symphony.

1948: Eric Leinsdorf conducts the Rochester Oratorio Society and Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's Symphony No 9 in D Minor.

1950s

1950: William Warfield performs with the ROS in Mendelssohn's Elijah – a role he performed with ROS on many occasions.

1952: ROS presents Christmas Story by Peter Mennin, later the president of the Juilliard School of Music.

1954: The Berlioz Requiem is presented to sell-out crowds of 3,000 at Eastman Theatre; the performance is recorded by Columbia Records.

1956: ROS singers are among 700 musicians from four choruses and a large orchestra, celebrating the re-opening of the Eastman Theatre with a production of Mahler's Symphony of a Thousand.

1956: William Warfield and the ROS bring over 10,000 audience members to the War Memorial for Handel's Messiah.

1959: The ROS joins the RPO under the baton of Pierre Monteux for a performance of Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé Suites.

1960s

1961: Beethoven's Missa Solemnis was performed for the first time.

1963: Justino Diaz joins the ROS for a performance of Bloch's Sacred Service. Later this year he debuts with the Metropolitan Opera as Monterone in Verdi's Rigoletto, after winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

1964: ROS presents the second U.S. performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

1970s

1970: The Rochester Oratorio Society celebrates its 25th anniversary with performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and The Fantasy in C Minor for Piano, Chorus, and Orchestra (Choral Fantasy), Walter Hendl, Conducting.

1978: David Zinman conducts the ROS and RPO in Verdi's Requiem.

1980s

1980: The ROS Women's Chorus joins the RPO under the direction of David Zinman for Mahler's Symphony No 3; contralto Maureen Forrester, soloist.

1981: The Rochester Oratorio Society's first European Concert Tour. Performances of Rossini's Stabat Mater at Cathédral Notre Dame de Paris, and Mozart's Requiem, in Salzburg.

1983: ROS completes its second European Concert Tour. Highlights include Brahm's Requiem, performed with 150 youth singers from across Europe and 300 singers from U.S. and European choirs. Claudio Abbado, Conductor.

1985: ROS celebrates its 40th anniversary with Mendelssohn's Elijah.

ROS Music Director Ted Hollenbach is honored by the RPO with a performance of Berlioz's Requiem. In December of this year, he completes his tenure with ROS as he began it, with a performance of Handel's Messiah.

1986: The Rochester Oratorio Society welcomes Roger Wilhem as its second Music Director. He begins his first season by conducting the ROS in Haydn's Creation.

1990s

1990: The ROS is joined by the Greece Choral Society for its Third European Concert Tour. Highlights include Haydn's Te Deum and Rutter's Requiem.

1991: Mark Elder conducts the ROS and RPO for the premiere performance of Sir Hubert Parry's Blest Pair of Sirens.

1992: Roger Wilhelm leads the ROS in Rochester's premiere performances of Rutter's Magnificat and Kirke Mechem's Singing is So Good a Thing.

1993: The Rochester Oratorio Society presents Rochester's premiere of Puccini's Messa di Gloria. This year, the ROS also completes a Concert Tour of the British Isles.

1994: Joined by the Rochester Brass Ensemble, ROS performs Frank Tirro's American Jazz Mass.

1996: The Rochester Oratorio Society celebrates its 50th Anniversary with a gala social event including honored guest William Warfield, and a premiere performance by the ROS of Cary Ratcliffe's Ode to Common Things.

1999: ROS performs Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at Chautauqua Institution under the direction of Uri Segal.

2000s

2000: The ROS takes a Summer Concert Tour, with performances in Rome and Florence, Italy. The program includes Vierne's Solemn Mass and works by American composers Cary Ratcliff, Howard Hanson, and Samuel Adler.

2001: The Rochester Oratorio Society explores its silly side with a "PDQ Bach" concert, which features Oedipus Tex, Canine Cantata, and Missa Hilarius.

2002: The Rochester Oratorio Society is the western NY sponsor for the "The Rolling Requiem" project. Over 300 singers, representing 30 area choirs, joined with choruses around the world to perform Mozart's Requiem in memory and honor of those who perished in the September 11th, 2001 attacks.

2003: ROS welcomes guest conductor Glenn McClure and the Pan Loco Steel Band to perform McClure's composition, St. Francis in the Americas: A Caribbean Mass.

2005: ROS enjoys a music exchange with Fanshawe Chorus London of London, Ontario, Canada, with performances in both chorus' host cities.

2006: ROS celebrates its 60th Anniversary and also bids farewell to its retiring leader Roger Wilhelm with the premiere of a work commissioned from composer and conductor Jeff Tyzik, Psalm 150.

The Rochester Oratorio Society welcomes Eric Townell as its new Music Director and Conductor. The first concert under Townell's direction, "Majestic Sonorities" presents music by Pablo Casals, Eric Whitacre, Emma Lou Diemer, as well as Nathaniel Dett's sublime Ave Maria and The Peacable Kingdom by Randall Thompson.

2007: The Rochester Oratorio Society launches Classical Idol, an innovative, annual competition program for new and rising opera talent across the country.

ROS joins the RPO to perform Ralph Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, Christopher Seaman conducts.

2008: ROS competes in the 9th International Cultural Festival, part of the pre-Olympic cultural events, with performances in Beijing and Shanghai, China.

Eric Townell forms Resonanz, a flexible, innovative, and high-quality choral ensemble of about 40 voices, to represent the larger chorus in fundraising and outreach settings.

2009: The ROS produces "Partners in Freedom" with special guests, the Morgan State University Choir of Baltimore, MD (Conductor: Eric Conway) and the Bach Children's Choir (Conductor: Karla Krogstad), soloist Dr. Jeffrey McGhee, and historian Dr. David Anderson. The event, commemorating the lives of abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass and of President Abraham Lincoln, features Kirke Mechem's Songs of the Slave, David Diamond's This Sacred Ground, and Nathaniel Dett's Ave Maria.

ROS also performs 4 concerts this year with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra under Christopher Seaman, a "record season", comprising music of Verdi, Bach, Borodin, and Beethoven.

The ROS offers special programs through Rochester's public television and radio stations: May 31, 2009, the Rochester Oratorio Society performs before a studio audience for its first-ever, one-hour television broadcast. The chorus shows its versatility on WXXI-21's "Voices" series with a program of music spanning over 400 years, from Gabrieli's Jubilate Deo to Kirke Mechem's Blow ye the Trumpet and Cole Porter's Night and Day.

In December 2009, Resonanz performs a diverse selection of holiday music in its first-ever live radio broadcast on WXXI's Classical 91.5FM "Backstage Pass" hosted by Julia Figueras.

2010: The Rochester Oratorio Society sings Handel's Messiah under Christopher Seaman in his final performance of the work as music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

ROS also gives its first-ever performances of Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and the Bach Cantata #80.

2011: ROS performs for the first time under RPO Principal pops conductor Jeff Tyzik in Gershwin's Suite from Porgy and Bess.

In May 2011, The Rochester Oratorio Society presents the U.S. premiere of Vaughan Williams' Five Tudor Potraits in its special chamber-ensemble setting, along with the local premiere of Arthur Bliss' Pastoral: Lie Strewn the White Flocks.

2011-2012 Season

After 65 years, the Rochester Oratorio Society is still going strong! Please click here to learn more about our exciting season.

We are pleased to share these highlights from our first 65 years. If you would like more information about our past concert seasons, please contact the Rochester Oratorio Society office at 585.473.2234 or info@rossings.org.