Columbus Symphony Chorus

 Superbly balanced, well-rehearsed, and confident.

The Columbus Symphony Chorus, beginning its 62nd season in the fall of 2022, continues to excel under the direction of Ronald J. Jenkins. Under his leadership for the past 40 years, the Chorus has grown both in the quality of its performances and in the diversity of its classical repertoire.

The 130-member Chorus, composed entirely of volunteer singers from central Ohio, performs major works from Bach through the twenty-first century. Past performances have included the requiems of Brahms, Verdi, Fauré, Mozart, and Duruflé; the Bach B Minor Mass; Mozart's Grand Mass in C Minor and Coronation Mass; Haydn's Lord Nelson and Harmonie Mass; Haydn's Creation and the Seasons; Paul Moravec’s Sanctuary Road, Orff’s Carmina Burana and works by Rossini, Walton, Britten, and Prokofiev; and concert performances of operas, including Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s La Bohéme. In 2013, the chorus premiered Stephen Paulus' Of Songs and Singing, conducted by Jenkins and commissioned by the chorus to honor his 30+ years of service.

A few excerpts from reviews in the press:

• Darrel Rosenbluth, New York Concert Review critic remarked of the Chorus after their April, 2001 performance of Prologue in Heaven from Mefistofele, "This was choral singing of impeccable realization and subtle shading that carried the celestial paradise of Boito's text to earthly ears."
• Of Carmina Burana, Dispatch music critic Barbara Zuck wrote, "The chorus cleanly and clearly led us all through the work's many colors and temperaments."
• In the Beethoven, the chorus was acclaimed for its “glorious delivery” and in the Haydn, the chorus was given “top billing for its hushed entrance and exquisite, buoyant beauty achieved again and again, and most-consistently conveying the qualities of naiveté and sweetness.”
• The Symphony Chamber Chorus presented Faure’s Requiem of which music critic Zuck wrote, “Faure’s setting of this mass requires just the right approach, which Jenkins and his musicians found to perfection.”

The Symphony Chorus’ 2022-23 season will include:

• Orff Carmina Burana
• Janáček Glagolitic Mass
• Handel Coronation Anthem No. 1
• Vaughan Williams Dona Nobis Pacem
• Britten The Building of the House
• Paulus Of Songs and Singing

What is a typical schedule for the Symphony Chorus each season?

The chorus rehearses every Tuesday evening from 7:15 to 9:45 p.m. in rehearsal room #1 of the Ohio Theater Pavilion, 55 East State Street. The date of the beginning and ending of each year's rehearsal schedule depends on the repertoire of the particular season. Rehearsals begin for each season in late August.

A typical concert week usually follows the pattern of rehearsals and concerts below:

• Tuesday evening: chorus and piano with the conductor
• Wednesday & Thursday evenings: chorus and orchestra with conductor
• Friday & Saturday evenings (sometimes also Saturday or Sunday matinees): concerts

For information about auditions click here.