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Coro Allegro

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Coro Allegro is a classical chorus based in Boston, Massachusetts, and draws its members from the LGBTQ+ and allied community. It was founded in 1991.

Profile and performances

Coro Allegro was founded specifically to be a chorus of both gay men and lesbians who share a passion for music, and it remains the only organization in Boston committed to bringing exciting classical repertoire to the LGBTQ+ community. The chorus also succeeds in bringing classical music to a wider audience. In its first twenty years, its numbers grew from just twenty singers to more than sixty.{{Cite web |date=2011-07-25 |title=ArtsBoston Organization Detail: Coro Allegro |url=http://www.artsboston.org/org/detail/7255 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725020452/http://www.artsboston.org/org/detail/7255 |archive-date=2011-07-25 |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=ArtsBoston}}

Premieres and commissions

Since its founding in 1991, Coro Allegro has performed 28 world premieres, including 18 works commissioned by or for the chorus, plus an additional three American premieres and five Boston premieres. Notable premieres include:

  • Kenneth Fuchs' Three Songs on Robert Frost Texts, 1994
  • Kenneth Fuchs' In the Clearing, 1995
  • Daniel Pinkham's The White Raven, 1996
  • Ruth Lomon's Requiem for soprano and chorus accompanied by brass and woodwinds, 1997Boston Secession: [http://www.bostonsecession.org/page.cfm?pageid=10901 Composer in Residence], accessed December 16, 2009
  • Patricia Van Ness's The Voice of the Tenth Muse, 1998
  • Charles Fussell’s Infinite Fraternity, May 16, 2003 at Sanders Theatre"Charles Fussell" in International Who's Who in Classical Music 2003 (Routledge, 2003)
  • David Brunner's The Wheel, 2004
  • Patricia Van Ness's Requiem for baritone, chorus, two violins, viola, cello, bass and oboe, October 31, 2004Blue Lantern Press: [http://www.bluelanternpress.com/pages/pages/Patricia%20Van%20Ness.html Patricia Van Ness]
  • Robert Stern’s “Shofar,” November 5, 2006 at Sanders Theatre{{Cite web |last=Wieting |first=Geoffrey |date=2009-11-16 |title=Shofar Highlights Concert with Coro Allegro at Sanders |url=https://www.classical-scene.com/2009/11/16/shofar-highlights-concert-with-coro-allegro-at-sanders/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Boston Musical Intelligencer |language=en-US}}
  • Fred Onovwerosuoke's “A Triptych of American Voices: A Cantata of the People,” Sunday, March 24, 2019 at Sanders Theatre{{Cite web |last=Wieting |first=Geoffrey |date=2019-03-29 |title=America/We Need to Talk. |url=https://www.classical-scene.com/2019/03/29/america-we-need-to-talk/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=The Boston Musical Intelligencer}}

Awards

  • Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award (2012){{Cite web |date=2012-05-05 |title=2012 Chorus America Awards Announced |url=https://chorusamerica.org/news/2012-chorus-america-awards-announced |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Chorus America |language=en}}
  • Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming (2019){{Cite web |title=Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming |url=https://chorusamerica.org/awards/chorus-americaascap-award-adventurous-programming |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Chorus America}}

Pinkham Award

In 2008, Coro Allegro established the Daniel Pinkham Award, which is awarded annually to an outstanding contributor to classical choral music and the LGBTQ+ community. The award is given in memory of Daniel Pinkham, the acclaimed and beloved Boston composer, musical director, and organist.{{Cite web |title=Pinkham Award |url=https://coroallegro.org/about-us/pinkham |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=Coro Allegro}} Award recipients include:

Collaborations

The chorus regularly collaborates with other musical ensembles. Among its most notable collaborations are the performances of:

  • Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Boston Cecilia and the Handel and Haydn Society under the direction of Christopher Hogwood (1999)Boston Globe, "Elijah Affirms One's Faith in H & H," October 21, 2000
  • Robert Kapilow’s baseball cantata, a setting of Casey at the Bat for chorus, with Boston Musica Viva in collaboration with choreographer Daniel Pelzig for the Celebrity Series of Boston (2001)Boson Globe, "This Casey Doesn't Strike Out", May 14, 2001
  • Brahms’ German Requiem with Boston Cecilia under the direction of Donald Teeters (2003)Boston Globe, "Cecilia, Coro Allegro Find Balance With Brahms," March 19, 2003
  • Poulenc's Gloria and Bernstein's Chichester Psalms with Boston Cecilia (2004)
  • Pablo Ortiz' Leaving Limerick in the Rain with the Terezín Music Foundation at Liberation: A Concert Honoring the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Nazi Camps in Boston Symphony Hall{{Cite news |last=Eichler |first=Jeremy |date=October 7, 2015 |title=Honoring the war's end, in verse and song |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/10/06/honoring-war-end-verse-and-song/iYpIGG34hPSiDswkKeG8VN/story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010095512/http://www.bostonglobe.com:80/arts/music/2015/10/06/honoring-war-end-verse-and-song/iYpIGG34hPSiDswkKeG8VN/story.html |archive-date=October 10, 2015 |access-date=April 17, 2025 |work=The Boston Globe}}
  • William Grant Still's And They Lynched Him on a Tree with The Heritage Chorale of New Haven (1999,{{Cite web |last=Gellman |first=Lucy |date=2023-03-03 |title=Heritage Chorale Rings In 25 Years At New Haven Museum |url=https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/heritage-chorale-rings-in-25-years |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=New Haven Arts |language=en}} 2019)

Coro Allegro has performed with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra on the Boston Common and at the Edward A. Hatch Memorial Shell.{{Cite web |date=2022-07-20 |title=BLO Brings Free Orchestral Music To Hatch Shell |url=https://eastietimes.com/2022/07/20/blo-brings-free-orchestral-music-to-hatch-shell/ |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=East Boston Times}} The chorus has also collaborated with the Back Bay Ringers, the Boston City Singers, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus, Chorus Pro Musica, City on a Hill Charter School Chorus, La Donna Musicale, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Rumbarroco, Toronto Children’s Chorus, and the United Parish Chancel Choir.

GALA Choruses festivals

Coro Allegro participates in the quadrennial GALA Choruses festival.{{Cite web |title=GALA Choruses Member Choruses |url=http://www.galachoruses.org/members/choruses/members_alpha.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20120320122447/http://www.galachoruses.org:80/members/choruses/members_alpha.php |archive-date=2012-03-20 |access-date=2012-03-20 |website=GALA Choruses}}

References

External links

{{Portal|United States|Classical music|LGBTQ}}

  • [https://www.coroallegro.org/ Official website]

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Category:Choirs in Massachusetts

Category:GALA choruses

Category:LGBTQ-themed musical groups

Category:Musical groups established in 1991

Category:Musical groups from Boston

Category:1991 establishments in Massachusetts

Category:LGBTQ organizations based in Boston