• Rehearsals: We begin at 7:00 pm each Thursday evening, and conclude between 9:30 and 9:45, with a break of about ten minutes for announcements and general socializing. We ask choristers to concentrate on the music during rehearsal and save conversation for the break.
• Commitment for the full season: While members might need to excuse themselves from an occasional concert for personal reasons, members should join with the intention of participating in all of our concerts for a season.
• Attendance and preparation: Members are expected to attend rehearsals regularly. Members who have missed a significant number of rehearsals may be asked to re-audition with the Music Director, or his designee, to demonstrate their command of the music. Members are expected to do enough work on note learning to allow the rehearsal time to be devoted to interpreting and shaping the music. If score markings are distributed in advance of a rehearsal, members are expected to have the appropriate markings in their music, or have the marked score printed for their personal use.
• Re-auditions: The Music Director has the prerogative to ask any member to re-audition for a given season. We all hope to grow in our musical abilities over time, and the re-audition process gives the music director and his associates the opportunity to provide valuable feedback to members. It also increases his understanding of the timbre of individual voices contributing to our blended sound.

FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS: 

• Payment of dues (currently $150 per season); 
• Purchase (and, we hope, re-sale) of 6 tickets per concert (generally ordered on a consignment basis, but if you don't buy any, 6 will be assigned to you); 
• Attendance at a minimum number of rehearsals (excessive unexplained absences are referred to the Music Director). 

YOUR CHORUS NUMBER:

Although we'd like to know you by name (and will, in time), for many purposes it is faster to assign you a number. Your chorus number should be put on any checks (dues, music payments), ticket orders, and in your scores. Double-digit numbers identify sopranos; alto numbers begin with "1", tenor numbers with "2", and basses - you guessed! - with "3".


REHEARSAL LOCATIONS:

We try to begin at 7:00 pm each Thursday evening, and conclude between 9:30 and 9:45, with a break of about ten minutes for announcements and general socializing. All these times depend, of course, on the punctuality of our members. Conversation should be kept to an absolute minimum during actual rehearsal, since it is distracting to all concerned, and counter-productive to music-making.

Nearly all rehearsals are held at Holy Trinity Church, 88th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues (other locations are announced in advance). Street parking is limited; there is metered parking on the avenues that ends at 7:00.  There are lots of restaurants in the neighborhood for dinner before, or drinks after.

MUSIC:

You may, of course, get your music anywhere you like, but if you buy it from the Society's Librarian, you will be assured of using the same edition as everyone else. You will also need a black folder for concert purposes, which you may purchase from the Librarian.

CONCERTS:

At this point, we do three concerts each year at Carnegie Hall, on 57th Street (six minutes and twenty-three seconds from Lincoln Center, and slightly to the right left of the Russian Tea Room). The stage entrance - which we use for concerts - is on 56th Street just off Seventh Avenue.

DRESSING UP:

Reminders about concert dress and deportment will be handed out before each concert, but you might like to get the clothing ahead of time...

Tenors and Basses: tuxedo or black business suit; plain white dress shirt or pleated tux shirt (no ruffles or colors); black bow tie; black shoes and socks.

Sopranos and Altos: black floor-length skirt (no sequins or long slits); black long-sleeved, round neck, pull-over blouse; 26" length pearls; black shoes and black or flesh-tone stockings; small black evening bag if needed. (Pearls can be purchased from our Librarian at rehearsal.)

Singers in general: Your neighbors on stage will appreciate the use of deodorant and the absence of perfume and cologne; jewelry should also be as subtle as possible.

CONDUCTOR'S COMMITTEE:

A few "section leaders" in each voice part make up this committee. These people assist the Music Director by trying to make new choristers feel at home, taking attendance at rehearsals, coordinating concert seating arrangements, and answering questions of a general (rather than musical) nature. Members can help the section leaders by keeping them posted on address and phone number changes. If you expect to miss a rehearsal for any reason, we ask that you call one of them, or tell them at the previous rehearsal.


THE WEBSITE: 

www.oratoriosocietyofny.org 
Launched in October 1999, the Society's website is meant to provide information about concerts, tickets, the Solo Competition, the Society's history, our Music Director, and other events.

There is also a page dedicated to keeping chorus members informed about extra rehearsals and other important information. From the home page, click on the link called "Info for Members ... Chorus News".

HISTORY:

The Oratorio Society has played a major role in the Big Apple's cultural life for over a century. Performing with some of the most illustrious names in music, past and present, it has maintained the tradition of the great choral repertoire, and given the American premiers of numerous works from Tchaikovsky to Britten. Since 1977, the Society has also sponsored a Solo Competition to advance the careers of young vocal artists. Andrew Carnegie was our president for 30 years, and built Carnegie Hall for us (and the New York Philharmonic); our Messiah has been on the December bill there each year since 1891. On its hundredth anniversary, the Oratorio Society was honored with the City's highest cultural award, the Handel Medallion. Records have included the first recording of Verdi's opera Aroldo, and the Mozart version of Handel's Messiah.

WELCOME!