Our Story
The Back Bay Chorale is a 100-member auditioned chorus, drawing experienced singers from the greater Boston area. From our inception, we have committed to sharing music in the community with repertoire that ranges from Renaissance to contemporary in an annual concert series. For over fifty years, the Chorale has performed major works of the choral repertoire including Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Mass in B Minor, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Israel in Egypt, and Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem.
The Back Bay Chorale has also commissioned and premiered many works, including: Marjorie Merryman’s Three Ballads; James Russell Smith’sCanto V: The Second Circle; Robert Kyr’s Unseen Rain and Passion According to Four Evangelists; Stephen Paulus’s Voices; Daniel Thomas Davis’s King David’s Songbook; Julian Wachner’s Symphony No. 1: Incantations and Lamentations and Come, my dark-eyed one; Mohammed Fairouz’s Anything Can Happen; and in 2018, Pulitzer Prize®-winner Caroline Shaw’s Seven Joys.
Our Mission:
Back Bay Chorale shares the power of voice, advancing the spirit of community.
Musician, minister, and social activist Larry Hill founded the Back Bay Chorale in 1973 at Boston’s Church of the Covenant to create a musical ministry that would bring meaning to both singers and their audience. In the years since Hill’s death in 1989, the Chorale has continued to grow in stature and is now regarded as one of Boston’s premier choruses. Under music directors Larry Hill, Beverly Taylor, Julian Wachner, James Olesen, Scott Allen Jarrett, and, beginning with the 2024–2025 season, Dr. Stephen Spinelli, the Chorale has presented numerous concerts and has had the privilege to perform with many of Boston’s finest orchestral players and internationally recognized local soloists.
Our Vision:
A thriving community of musicians dedicated to the best in the choral arts, the Back Bay Chorale will be a valued and leading participant in our region's musical, cultural, and civic conversation.
The Chorale performs throughout Boston and Cambridge. Past and current venues include Emmanuel Church, Old South Church, Cathedral Church of St. Paul, St. Leonard's Parish, and St. Cecilia Church in Back Bay; Harvard University's Sanders Theatre and St. Paul's Church in Cambridge; Jordan Hall, Faneuil Hall, Boston Public Library Copley Square, and Boston University’s Marsh Chapel.
In addition to the annual concert season, Back Bay Chorale serves the local community through our Bridges program. In partnership with the Boston Public Library the program teaches ESOL students English and how to express themselves through choral singing. The program also delivers choral performances to Boston area residents who would otherwise be unable to attend a live musical performance.