Whitman College Chorale and Chamber Singers

About

The Whitman College Chorale was founded over 100 years ago. It has a rich tradition of performing masterworks from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. This chorus of 100 singers also sponsors an annual Commissioning Project, by which major American composers are invited to write new works especially for the Chorale and Chamber Singers. The Whitman Chorale performs regularly with area symphony orchestras and with the Whitman Orchestra. Recent performances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Mozart’s Requiem and the world premiere of John David Earnest’s Second Symphony.

The Whitman Chamber Singers is a select chorus of 32 singers, taken from the membership of the Chorale. The Chamber Singers are recognized throughout the Northwest for the excellence of their performances of music from the Renaissance to the present day. They have been featured in performances at Division Conventions of the American Choral Directors Association in 1992 and 1996. The Chamber Singers tours every other year. Recent tours have included Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Honolulu. The group often collaborates with the Whitman Orchestra, mostly recently performing Arvo Part's Berliner Messe and Vaughan Williams' Benedicite. In addition, the Chamber Singers premiered A Strange Sweetness, by Joseph Gregorio, and will premiere John David Earnest's Haiku for Stone in 2012.

Dr. Riikka Pietiläinen-Caffrey conducts both the Chorale and the Chamber Singers.

Concert Selections

(Melissa Dunphy) performed by the Whitman Chamber Singers, Spring 2011.