Utah Symphony Chorus

There is only one chorus that has the distinction of being the voice of the Utah Symphony: That chorus is the Utah Symphony Chorus.

Maestro Maurice Abravanel has written that the (then Utah) Chorale is a chorus whose “courage, determination and artistry have made it possible for Utah audiences to hear countless musical masterpieces never before performed in Utah.”

1947 is when Abravanel came to the Symphony and started using choruses. In his first season he needed a chorus to sing Beethoven’s 9th. Since there was no established “Symphony Chorus”, he turned to the University of Utah in search of a group. There were several choruses at the U, and Dr. LeRoy J. Robertson was the Chairman of the Music Department from 1948. He allowed the choirs to combine forces so that they could provide Maestro Abravanel the body of singers he needed to do the work. The first ever collaboration of what would later become today’s Utah Symphony Chorus sang Beethoven’s Ninth (Choral) Symphony on March 13, 1948 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

Over the next three years, Abravanel continued to turn to the University of Utah choirs to provide the choral support he needed for the works he wanted to do. The next three performances with chorus were held at Kingsbury Hall, but everyone agreed that wasn’t a good place to perform. Following the 1950 concert of the Bach St. Matthew Passion, David O. McKay gave Abravanel the keys to the Tabernacle, and subsequent concerts were held there.

Not long after World War II, in a building once used for mustering out troops on the campus of the University of Utah, a combination of forces brought out a new community chorus. With roots in the University and branches extending into the community, the Utah Chorale was born. It was 1950. The group was first named the University of Utah Chorale, and was later re-named the University Civic Chorale. Under the direction of John Marlowe Nielson, a prominent voice in the Utah choral community, the new chorus ventured into the great choral literature with another then-fledgling group, the Utah Symphony. Today, both the Symphony and the Chorale (now Utah Symphony Chorus) are pillars of the Utah performing arts community, and both have earned enduring and endearing praise.

In 1962 Dr. Newell B. Weight took over directorship of the University Civic Chorale. From 1964 to 1975 Dr. Weight and Professor Nielson co-directed the singers. Bonnie M. Winterton accompanied. The name was officially changed to the Utah Chorale during this time. In 1975 Professor Nielson retired and Bonnie Winterton was named assistant conductor. In 1976 Dr. Weight was named the Principal Conductor of the Chorale.

The raison d’etre’ of the Utah Chorale, however, goes beyond its prestigious association with the Utah Symphony. The Chorale hosts an enormously popular collaboration between singers and cityfolk every year before Christmas. In a kind of sonic boom that sets off the holidays, thousands fill Abravanel Hall for the Annual Sing-In that began in December 1978. A spectacular audio-visual celebration, the Sing-In makes everybody a Symphony Hall soloist, even if only for a few glorious hours.

Two Prizes in the Chorale’s portfolio contribute to its stature. These are Grammy nominations the group earned in the late 1970’s for recordings made with the Utah Symphony under the direction of Maurice Abravanel. The first nomination came for the performance of the Sacred Service, by Earnest Bloch, on the Angel label. Critics have described Bloch as a modern prophet of Hebrew music; they have compared his work to that of Handel, Bach, and Beethoven. The second Grammy nomination came for the recording of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, also on the Angel label.