The Clarion Choir is a professional chamber choir based in New York City, and one of the leading vocal ensembles in the United States. Formed in 2006, The Choir has a focus on Baroque and Classical repertoire, often performing together with the renowned period-instrument ensemble The Clarion Orchestra. But over the last decade, they have also expanded into later literature, including the choral music of Rachmaninoff and his contemporaries, and newly-composed works written for professional chamber choir. In 2014, the choir gave the New York premiere of a lost Russian masterwork from the 1920s, Passion Week by Maximilian Steinberg; in 2016 they premiered the work in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London. Their performances were featured on PBS, and their recording of Passion Week received a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance as well as a nomination for BBC Music Magazine‘s Choral Award. The Choir has since performed and recorded other works from this period, such as Alexander Kastalsky’s Memory Eternal, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Classical charts, and Kastalsky’s Requiem, which received ‘Editor’s Choice’ in Gramophone. Over a two-year span in 2023 and 2024, the Choir performed Rachmaninoff’s complete cycle of choral works in celebration of the composer’s 150th birthday. This extraordinary project was featured in the New York Times and BBC Music Magazine and culminated with a performance of his All-Night Vigil (‘Vespers’) at Carnegie Hall. Their recently-released recording of the Vespers was nominated for a GRAMMY® award for Best Choral Performance.
The Clarion Choir enjoys special partnerships with The English Concert and their music director Harry Bicket, as well as with the celebrated music program of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Met Live Arts. The Choir has joined The English Concert for several of their annual presentations of Handel operas and oratorios at Carnegie Hall and on tour, such as Handel’s Semele (2019) and Solomon (2023). Together they have performed in venues such as the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, the Barbican Centre in London, Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley, Théatre des Champs Elysée in Paris, LA Opera, and Carnegie Hall. As part of the Met Live Arts series, The Clarion Choir has presented eight Renaissance and early-Baroque programs in the Medieval Sculpture Hall and the Met Cloisters. The Choir has also collaborated with notable artists and ensembles such as the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, Susan Graham, Isabel Leonard, and Madonna at the 2018 Met Gala.
