Choir

University Chorale

The Montclair State University Chorale (curricular auditioned SATB symphonic choir) is the Cali School’s core mixed-voice choir specializing in masterwork repertoire. 150 voices strong, it brings together music majors and *students from across the University. Chorale appears regularly with the New Jersey Symphony for professional-level performances under the baton of renowned conductors such as Xian Zhang, Jacques Lacombe, and Neeme Järvi. NJS repertoire highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Verdi’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and Poulenc’s Gloria. The Chorale has also collaborated with guest artists Jake Runestad and Eric Whitacre. Performances in their home venue, Alexander Kasser Theater, include masterworks by Britten, Bernstein, Duruflé, Fauré, Aldridge, Whitbourn, Cohen, Vaughan Williams, Hagenberg, and Forrest.

Note: *non-Majors with choral experience are very welcome to audition for Chorale contact buchananh@montclair.edu

University Singers

The Montclair State University Singers (curricular auditioned SATB flagship choir) is a mixed-voice elective choir for experienced undergraduate and graduate singers from across the *University. The ensemble performs a wide range of sacred and secular repertoire, from the Renaissance to today, with a special focus on contemporary composers.

Past highlights include performances at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, NJPAC, and with the New Jersey Symphony, as well as international tours throughout Central Europe and Russia. The University Singers has premiered works by composers including Jocelyn Hagenberg, Jake Runestad, Kate Whitley, Mícheál Ó Súílleabháin, Tarik O’Regan, and Chen Yi, as well as Montclair student and alumni composers. Their ground-breaking performances and recording of Songs of Ascension with renowned composer-artist Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble won critical acclaim, and the ECM Records recording under legendary producer Manfred Eicher was Grammy nominated (2012). Annual performances of Handel’s Messiah with the NJS since 2014 have become a beloved NJ holiday tradition. University Singers has performed with esteemed artists VOCES8, Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad and Anton Armstrong via Cali Immersive Residencies. The choir’s solo recording I Sing Because… is available on Spotify and iTunes.

Note: *non-Majors with high-level choral experience are very welcome to audition for University Singers. Contact buchananh@montclair.edu

Vocal Accord

Montclair State University Vocal Accord (curricular SATB auditioned chamber choir) is an approx. 30-voice chamber choir comprising undergraduate and graduate *students and alumni with extensive choral experience. Since its debut in January 2010, Vocal Accord has been recognized for its superb artistry, creative programming, and cutting-edge collaborations. Their May-June 2012 European tour of Austria (Vienna, Graz, Gleisdorf, Ottendorf) and Italy (Venice) included a week-long residency at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Graz, Austria and performing with members of the Vienna Philharmonic strings in the HÖRgenuss 2012 festival.  American Voices, a documentary of this tour (Steve McCarthy, producer), was released in February 2013 and subsequently aired on NJTV network. The choir’s 2014 collaboration with internationally acclaimed Richard Alston Dance Company (UK) led to an invitation to perform at the historic Sadler’s Wells, London, for the RADC 2015 season opening where the choir received critical acclaim. This heralded a Fall 2015 invitation to the prestigious Fall For Dance festival in NYC with RADC.

Additional collaborations include live performances of the Harry Potter film The Prisoner of Azbakan with the NSO, the European summer festival The Passion of Italy (July 2017), and a June 2019 tour of Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. Vocal Accord performs repertoire ranging from traditional and classical works to new works by professional and alumni composers and student composers via the Cali Immersive Residency program and has appeared in venues such as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Auditorium and National Sawdust, Brooklyn. Cali collaborative highlights include performing with VOCES8, Rhiannon Giddens, Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad, and Anton Armstrong. 

Note: *non-Majors with high-level experience in the Montclair State choral program are welcome to audition for Vocal Accord. Contact buchananh@montclair.edu

Prima Voce

Montclair State University Prima Voce (extracurricular SSAA project choir) draws membership from University Singers, Chorale, Vocal Accord, and alumnae when speciality treble-voice choral projects arise. On occasions project membership may be extended to all *students across the university. Prima Voce was formed in Fall 2012 for performances of A Ceremony of Carols (Britten) with the Internationally acclaimed UK-based Richard Alston Dance Company, presented by Peak Performances in the Alexander Kasser Theater. In January 2016, Prima Voce sang Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the NJS under maestro Jacques Lacombe, with Montclair students and alumnae making their NJS solo debut singing the fairy roles. Their 2023-24 season highlight was Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 under maestra Xian Zhang.

Note: *non-Majors with choral experience are welcome to audition for Prima Voce when projects are announced. This is an extracurricular, non-credit bearing choral ensemble. Contact buchananh@montclair.edu