The health and safety of our membership is our utmost priority. The ROS Health and Safety Committee will continually monitor COVID information and guidelines from reliable sources including: the CDC, the NYS Health Department, and the Monroe County Health Department, and will make adjustments to ROS COVID policies as needed.

ROS members are strongly encouraged to be conscientious about following all cdc.gov Covid prevention measures, to ensure the health and safety of us all. The CDC recommends that people remain up to date with their vaccines, which includes booster doses at regular time points. A new booster shot should become available in the Fall.

If you feel sick with possible symptoms of COVID-19:

• Don’t come to an ROS chorus rehearsal or performance
• Talk to a healthcare provider.
• Get tested for COVID-19.

If you test positive or if you know you have had a significant exposure to covid, follow the guidelines at cdc.gov/coronavirus for when and how (e.g. masked or unmasked) you can safely return to large group activities such as ROS chorus rehearsals/performances.

Member Welcome-Back Event:

August 27, 2023 at 3pm

The Gathering Space

Rochester First United Methodist Church

1040 East Ave

Rochester, 14607

Mark your calendar for our second annual welcome-back event! Visit with your ROS family, and relax to the wonderful solos sung by Paulette Gissendanner, Francois Bessing, and Eric Logan. We may even have a visit from the ice cream truck! Feel free to bring a singing friend along, especially one who might want to audition for ROS, or for Resonanz, this Fall! There is no charge to attend our welcome-back event (donations are always welcome.)

Our first ROS symphonic chorus performance will be on:

October 27, 2023 at 7:30 P.M.,

Hochstein Performance Hall, 50 Plymouth Avenue North, Rochester 14614

Featuring Ziwen Xiang, Tenor and the Rochester Oratorio Society Chorus and Orchestra

1. Adolphus Hailstork’s cantata,  “I WIll Lift Up Mine Eyes,”

This compelling work for tenor, chorus and orchestra, comprises three beautiful settings of Psalms 121, 13 and 23. Adolphus Hailstork, a world-renowned composer and educator, was born in Rochester in 1941. Ziwen Xiang reprises his Carnegie Hall performances in the brilliant tenor solo role.

2. Mozart: Mass in C Major, K. 317, “Coronation”
3. Beethoven: “Hallelujah,” from Christ on the Mount of Olives

Our annual, free holiday concert is on:

December 3, 2023, at 4:00 PM “A City Sings For the Season,”

Stardust Ballroom at the Edgerton R Center,

41 Backus Street, Rochester 14608

We co-sponsor a concert of holiday music and dance with the City of Rochester, free of charge, for the enjoyment of all. Donations of food, clothing and personal care items made will go to our charity partner, Action for a Better Community. This year we share the stage with several well-known local community performance groups:

Hochstein Youth Singers

ROCmusic Collaborative

Cameron Capoeira

Spiritus Christi Mass Choir

The Rochester Oratorio Society Chorus

ROS will sing sing the Gloria from “La Fiesta de la Posada,” by Dave Brubeck, “In Terra Pax,” by Purifoy, “Sing! Shout! Tell the Story” from Christmas in the Western World, by William Grant Still, and excerpts from Handel’s Messiah.

 

Our Spring concert is on:

March 15, 2024, at 7:30 P.M., Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1040 East Avenue, Rochester, 14607

Featuring: Emma Grace Wade, Soprano

Kevin Nitsch, Piano

The Rochester Oratorio Society Chorus

American Classics with Keyboard

Music of Copland, Dett, Thompson, Ford and others

ROS’s glorious, rich sonority is showcased in this program of great choral works with keyboard accompaniment. Opera choruses by Aaron Copland, Psalms, Spirituals, and a jubilant Walt Whitman setting written in the year and month of ROS’s founding, make for an unforgettable evening of music.

1. Jean Ford: “Thanks-Giver” living, American woman composer, new piece, NY premiere
2. Rochester composer, R. Nathaniel Dett; NY composer, Aaron Copland
3. Norman Dello Joio: “Jubilant Song” written in year and month of ROS founding, December 1945
4. Robert Chilcott: “MLK” features Emma Grace Wade as soloist, RIVC encouragement award winner and ROS scholarship recipient

Additional ROS Events planned in 2023-2024

May 2023 – Our now-world-famous Rochester International Vocal Competition returns – stay tuned for more info!

May 30 and June 1, 2023

The Rochester Oratorio Society sings with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra:

“A spectacular conclusion to an amazing RPO Centennial Season celebration! Hear, live in concert, the epic power and timeless message of humanity and brotherhood when Music Director Andreas Delfs leads your RPO, the Rochester Oratorio Society, and soloists in Beethoven’s inspiring and monumental “Ode to Joy,” The Ninth Symphony.” (RPO)

June 27 – July 08, 2024 the Rochester Oratorio Society goes on tour to France & Switzerland

We will sing our March 15 ROS concert repertoire.

The ROS board has set membership fees for the 23-24 season at $100. We are not asking for a ticket commitment this year. Rather, we are asking all ROS members to help build our audience. Please encourage friends, family and co-workers to attend our wonderful choral programs. Our tickets are reasonably priced. A large and diverse audience provides much needed revenue for ROS, and is very important to funders when they consider ROS requests for grant support.

Please mark your calendar for these important upcoming dates:

Registration for the 23-24 season is open now.

Sept 7: In-person auditions, 6pm Wesley Hall at Asbury Church

Sept 9: ROS fall double rehearsal and annual meeting, Asbury Fellowship Hall 9:30am – 12:30pm

Sept 11: First regular ROS rehearsal 7:00pm-9:30pm Fellowship Hall, Asbury First United Methodist Church

Most rehearsals are on Monday evenings, 7:00-9:30 P.M. in Fellowship Hall,  Asbury First United Methodist Church, unless otherwise noted.

Yes, we want to hear from you! We are sure you will have questions about our ’23-’24 season and the ROS tour to France/Switzerland.

Please email ROS Registrar, Jo Ann Lampman at jlampman@rossings.org, or call the ROS office (585-473-2234) with your questions. Board members are always happy to talk with ROS singing members at Asbury, on ROS rehearsal days.

Fellowship Hall at Asbury First United Methodist Church has been remodeled. It has fully modern air handling equipment along with several lighting, technology and security improvements. The piano has been upgraded, too.