HISTORY

Boston's Chorus pro Musica was founded in 1949 by the late Alfred Nash Patterson, one of the most influential forces in choral music in New England, and quickly built a superb reputation for its professional-level musical standards and innovative programming. Over the years, these strengths have led to collaborations with such organizations as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Craig Smith and Emmanuel Music, and the Boston Academy of Music, as well as various opera companies including Boston Concert Opera, the Opera Company of Boston, and Commonwealth Opera.

The chorus has twice received Grammy nominations for recordings made with the Boston Symphony Orchestra on the RCA label. Chorus pro Musica's dedication to new and rarely performed choral music has resulted in numerous Boston premieres, several American premieres, and at least two world premieres; the Poulenc Gloria and the Britten War Requiem. Under the baton of Jeffrey Rink, now in his eighth year as Music Director, the chorus recently produced critically acclaimed performances of Gounod's Faust and Mozart's Mass in C Minor, and presented the New England premiere of Antonio Estévez's La Cantata Criolla.

Chorus pro Musica continues to develop partnerships with such leading musical organizations as the Boston Philharmonic and Pittsburgh Symphony. In 1998 we were proud to perform in the Lila York World Premiere of Boston Ballet's Ode to Joy, a sweeping, impassioned new ballet set to the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Last season we were proud to join the Boston Philharmonic in two performances of Mahler Symphony No. 8.

Alfred Nash Patterson,
Founder of Chorus pro Musica.