The Mohawk Valley Choral Society

       A not for profit, self-financed singing group, the Mohawk Valley Choral Society was founded in 1982 and has been bringing exciting classical and light classical vocal music to the Central New York area for over thirty-five years. The dual goals of the Mohawk Valley Choral Society are to bring skillfully performed choral music to Western Mohawk Valley audiences as well as to provide area professional and amateur singers with an opportunity to perform major choral works with orchestra.  
      Its founding conductor was Conductor/Composer Robert Christensen. From 1988 through 2022, Randy Davis was Artistic Director and primary conductor.  In 2023, David Kolb became Artistic DIrector and primary conductor.
      Assistant conductors have been Mark Bunce, John Krause and Michael Roddy.        A non-profit, non-audition group, theMohawk Valley Choral Society is open to anyone with a love of singing and a willingness to be committed to a weekly rehearsal schedule.  The chorus averages 65 members and is composed of both amateur and professional vocalists from several counties throughout the Mohawk Valley.  Members of the Mohawk Valley Choral Society come from Otsego, Herkimer, Oneida, Fulton and Montgomery Counties to meet every Monday night to prepare for the group’s semiannual concerts. 
      Singers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences.  Among them are professional musicians, high school and college students, small business owners, engineers, farmers, secretaries, court stenographers, teachers and retirees.  They range in age from 16 to 85.
       Typically, the concerts of the Mohawk Valley Choral Society include music by composers such as Brahms, Haydn, Handel, J.S. Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn.  However, the chorus has also sung pieces by contemporary twentieth century composers such as Copland, Rutter, Pinkham and Moses Hogan.
       In recent years, the Mohawk Valley Choral Society has sung Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, the Brahms Requiem, the Mozart Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Rutter's Mass of the Children and J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor. In July 2017, it appeared with the Albany Symphony where it premiered Benjamin Wallace's Water Music: The Little Falls Lock.
    The Mohawk Valley Choral Society has appeared in cities, towns and villages throughout the Mohawk Valley. It has performed at the Cathedral of All Saints (the Episcopal Cathedral) in Albany, NY, Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University Campus, at Hamilton College, at the Herkimer County Community College, Presidential Inauguration and at the 2009 Genesis Group’s 9/11 Commemorative Program.
    It has appeared with the Syracuse University Brass Ensemble and the Albany Symphony Orchestra.
    In the past, the Choral Society has worked in conjunction with Herkimer County Community College to enable its students to participate with the Choral Society and earn college credit at the same time.
    For ten years, the Choral Society has offered scholarships to area high school students. These scholarships are granted after competitive auditions. They grant the winners free membership in the Choral Society as well as free weekly vocal lessons. Begun in 2009, the Choral Society had increased this scholarship program from it original two scholarships a year to its present ten.     
   Interested singers seeking more information about the Mohawk Valley Choral Society and high school Juniors or Seniors interested in the Mohawk Valley Choral Society Scholarship Program are encouraged to get in touch with the chorus through contact us on the left side of this page.