The Arts District Chorale (ADC) was originally founded as The Cathedral Chorale and established residency at Cathedral Guadalupe in 1989. The Chorale’s presence at the Cathedral through the 1990s, distinguished by our desire for excellence in repertoire and performance, helped to redefine the historic church’s role in the great medieval tradition of being a center for arts, culture, and community. This tradition endowed the Chorale with a powerful desire to reach out and collaborate with other artistic organizations. Indeed, our Cathedral roots and the partnerships that have arisen throughout our history are the foundation of the Chorale’s identity and mission.
In 2001, The Cathedral Chorale was renamed Arts District Chorale and incorporated as an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation. The name change reflected our growing prestige and expanded mission, as well as our desire to establish unique relationships with the downtown arts community, particularly in the Arts District.
Today the Arts District Chorale (ADC) is a signature, vocal ensemble of 80 voices. Its membership encompasses a diverse group of amateur and professional musicians from all walks of life — from marketing directors, software designers and CPAs, to attorneys, engineers, artists, and writers. Our common bond is a passion for the choral art as an essential ingredient of life and a willingness to share it with the community at the highest level of performance. We promote choral excellence through artistic performance in a variety of downtown venues — particularly those within the Dallas Arts District. Moreover, we strongly believe artistic collaboration increases the scope of the artistic experience for everyone involved: audience, artists, and arts organizations. We seek to strengthen partnerships around institutions unique to the Dallas Arts District, resulting in experiences that could only take place in Dallas. Thus we form a unique bond with the community who are exposed to venues in the Arts District in new and exciting ways while enjoying the music of ADC.
As the Arts District continues to experience spectacular change and growth, it reflects the diverse demand on the part of many community, arts, and commercial interests for volunteer choral musical expression. The Arts District Chorale performed on seventeen occasions during the 2007-2008 season including performances at Cathedral Guadalupe, the Crow Collection of Asian Arts, Dallas Museum of Art, and Nasher Sculpture Center. Most recently the Chorale was invited to sing for the inauguration of The Brinker International Forum — the first public ticketed event for the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. In the spring of 2009 the Arts District Chorale will be featured along with the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas Opera, Dallas Black Dance Theater, and Texas Ballet Theater as part of the Nasher Performing Arts Series: A Salute to the Dallas Arts District.
The Chorale’s broad-based repertoire, level of musical excellence and desire to collaborate with Dallas-area arts and nonprofit organizations allow us to bring music to unlikely audiences in magnificent, sometimes unexpected and always interesting places. From the majesty of Poulenc’s Gloria on the stage of the Meyerson Symphony Center to the sass of Cole Porter in the intimate setting of the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Chorale’s mission is to provide a memorable experience for everyone.
Location is integral to our identity, but collaboration is key to
our mission. The gives rise and energy to our vision of the Chorale
as a community builder via the arts. Our partnerships with other arts
organizations have been tremendously fruitful. These relationships help
to model the critical synergy that must exist within the downtown Arts
District for the district to achieve ever-increasing prominence as a center
for the arts around the world. Among our most memorable collaborations:
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Since 2003, the Chorale has partnered with two other Arts District organizations — the Arts District Friends and the Margaret and Trammell Crow Collection of Asian Art — to create a sold-out Valentine’s Eve event at the Crow Collection’s Gallery III. The 2004 performance introduced the sensual tangos of Astor Piazzolla, including dancers, in the fabulous surroundings of ancient Eastern art. The 2005 and 2006 events were expanded to two evenings of American standards (Love, American Style in 2005 and Love Goes to the Movies in 2006) to accommodate demand.
The Chorale leveraged its partnership with the Arts District Friends and the Crow Collection to celebrate the opening of the Nasher Sculpture Center in October 2003. It was a fabulous event that heralded the Nasher Center, while also welcoming hundreds of new visitors to the Crow Collection of Asian Art.
We eagerly anticipate new opportunities and new friendships as the Arts District continues to grow and evolve, particularly looking forward to the opening of the Winspear Opera House and the Wyly Theatre, the dedication of the Grand Plaza, and the reopening of the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts.
On the 40th anniversary of J.F. Kennedy’s assassination, the Chorale returned to the luxuriant ambience of Cathedral Guadalupe for an all a cappella concert, which included Herbert Howell’s monumental anthem on the death of JFK, Take Him, Earth, for Cherishing.The performance garnered a positive review by Dallas Morning News music critic Scott Cantrell. Equally importantly, the performance helped to build awareness of the architectural and acoustical splendor of the Cathedral, of which Mr. Cantrell said, “promises to be the area’s premier venue for choral music.” The review brought immediate response from the global arts community, including a request by the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge, England, to open an upcoming U.S. tour at the Cathedral.
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In July 2006, the Chorale programmed an evening of music from the turn of the 20th century to celebrate the Dallas Museum of Art’s exhibition of works of Louis Comfort Tiffany. Two years prior, over 3,000 people packed the Hamon Atrium of the Dallas Museum of Art to hear the Chorale sing music from the rarely performed Sacred Concerts by jazz legend Duke Ellington.
The audience was the largest ever for the DMA’s Late Night Series. The performance, which included collaboration with a jazz orchestra conducted by a former member of Ellington’s band, and featured two African-American vocalists of national renown, celebrated the touring
exhibition The Art of Romare Bearden.
All of these experiences are magical. They showcase the synergy that is created through partnerships that seek to combine various art forms to achieve greater appreciation and understanding across cultural divides.
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