The Baltimore Choral Arts Society was founded in 1967 as a performing outgrowth of the choir of Baltimore’s Cathedral of the Incarnation, and it has evolved into one of Maryland’s leading cultural institutions, recognized nationally for its artistic excellence and imaginative programs. The Society, which comprises a ninety-voice chorus, a professional thirty-five-member orchestra, a professional chamber chorus, and an educational outreach ensemble, performs regularly in Baltimore’s Meyerhoff Symphony Hall as well as in other venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region. The chorus has appeared with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center under such conductors as Roger Norrington and Claudio Scimone, as well as with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, in New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, and at the Festival of the Costa del Sol in Spain. Choral Arts concerts are broadcast locally, and the ensemble is often featured nationally on The First Art (Public Radio International) and Performance Today (National Public Radio). In 1991, under the direction of Tom Hall, music director since 1982, Choral Arts premiered Peter Schickele’s Blake’s Proverbs, composed in honor of the ensemble’s twenty-fifth anniversary; and, in 1997, it premiered Billy the Kid by Libby Larsen, commissioned jointly with the King’s Singers and the City of Birmingham (England) Chorus. The Choral Arts Society also encourages the creation of new choral works by sponsoring an annual competition.
