Choral Society of Durham

We had a very active season celebrating our 75th anniversary. We performed in non-traditional spaces for us such as at EnoFest (attendance was 120), the CenterFest arts festival (attendance was 100), and the Downtown Durham Holiday Tree Lighting (attendance was 350). Our virtual concert recorded on 10/29/23 has 775 views to date. A mini concert at Carol Woods on 11/8/23 had attendance of 130. Our holiday Concert, 12/17/23 presented music from three traditions (English, American, Argentinian) in collaboration with Mallarmé Music and the Durham Children's Choir. Attendance was 680. 2/4/24 we presented an encore performance of "From Brokenness Toward Hope: A Musical Offering" (spirituals and a gospel mass) as a benefit concert for Open Table Ministries, which was at Trinity United Methodist Church which featured local soloists and instrumentalists (Ginger Jones-Robinson, soprano; Korwind Stokes, tenor; John Simonetti, electric bass; John Hanks, percussion). Attendance was 400. In March, our Chamber Choir sopranos and altos sang in the opening scene of a powerful work titled Behind Closed Doors, written to bring visibility and awareness to victims of domestic violence, at the NC Museum of Art. Attendance was 425. The Chamber Choir also performed at Durham Regent, a senior living community. Attendance was 30. On 5/19/24 we presented a spirited performance of Carmina Burana in a sold-out Baldwin Auditorium (692) with the Durham Symphony and soloists Alissa Roca (soprano), Timothy W. Sparks (tenor), and Jason McKinney (baritone). On 6/8/24 we hosted the first-ever Durham Community Sing. This event featured seven other local choral groups (Heart of Carolina A Cappella, The Durham Savoyards, Ltd., the Croasdaile Chorale, Women's Voices Chorus, the Triangle Vocal Project, the Durham Community Chorale & members of Watts Street Baptist Church Choir, and the Mt. Bethel Presbyterian Church Choir & Westminster Presbyterian Church Choir) along with interested non-affiliated singers. The entire group (310 singers) spent the morning learning 6 short pieces. After a lunch break, we presented a concert where each group performed individually and then the entire group sang the 6 pieces that we had learned. Audience attendance was about 100. Membership of 158.