# Chicago Symphony Chorus

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The **Chicago Symphony Chorus** began on September 22, 1957, when the [Chicago Symphony Orchestra](/source/Chicago_Symphony_Orchestra) (CSO) announced that [Margaret Hillis](/source/Margaret_Hillis) would organize and train a symphony chorus. The music director [Fritz Reiner](/source/Fritz_Reiner)'s original intent was to utilize the chorus for the two weeks of subscription concerts that season, performing [George Frideric Handel](/source/George_Frideric_Handel)'s *[Messiah](/source/Messiah_(Handel))* in December and [Giuseppe Verdi](/source/Giuseppe_Verdi)'s *[Requiem](/source/Requiem_(Verdi))* in April. When [Bruno Walter](/source/Bruno_Walter) informed the orchestra's management that his March 1958 appearances would be his last in Chicago, the board president, Eric Oldberg, insisted that Walter conduct [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](/source/Wolfgang_Amadeus_Mozart)'s *[Requiem](/source/Requiem_(Mozart))* utilizing the new chorus. During that first season, it was logistically impossible for Hillis to audition and prepare a new Chorus for three major works within less than four months. As an interim fix, the [Apollo Chorus of Chicago](/source/Apollo_Chorus_of_Chicago) was used for the Christmas *Messiah* concerts.

## History

The Chicago Symphony Chorus gave its informal debut at a private concert for donors on November 30, 1957. Reiner conducted the first half of the concert and Hillis took the podium for the second half, becoming the first woman to conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She led the orchestra and chorus in the final section of [Henry Purcell](/source/Henry_Purcell)'s *Ode for Saint Cecilia’s Day*, [Randall Thompson](/source/Randall_Thompson)'s *[Alleluia](/source/Alleluia_(Thompson))* and [William Billings](/source/William_Billings)'s *Modern Music*, and the "Servants' Chorus" from [Gaetano Donizetti](/source/Gaetano_Donizetti)’s *[Don Pasquale](/source/Don_Pasquale)*.

Eighty-one-year-old Bruno Walter led the chorus in its official debut concerts at Orchestra Hall on March 13 and 14, 1958, a performance of Mozart's *Requiem*. A few weeks later, on April 3, 4, and 8, 1958, Reiner himself led the chorus for the first time in a performance of Verdi's *Requiem*.

The chorus made its first commercial recording for [RCA](/source/RCA_Corporation) — [Sergei Prokofiev](/source/Sergei_Prokofiev)’s *[Alexander Nevsky](/source/Alexander_Nevsky_(Prokofiev))* - on March 7, 1959, with Fritz Reiner conducting the orchestra. The chorus made its [Ravinia Festival](/source/Ravinia_Festival) debut on July 9, 1960, a performance of [Gustav Mahler](/source/Gustav_Mahler)'s [Symphony No. 2](/source/Symphony_No._2_(Mahler)) (*Resurrection*) conducted by the CSO's associate conductor and Ravinia Festival artistic director [Walter Hendl](/source/Walter_Hendl). The chorus had its first [Carnegie Hall](/source/Carnegie_Hall) appearance on November 12, 1967, singing [Hans Werner Henze](/source/Hans_Werner_Henze)'s *The Sicilian Muses* and [Maurice Ravel](/source/Maurice_Ravel)'s *Daphnis and Chloe* with [Jean Martinon](/source/Jean_Martinon) conducting.

The chorus' first tour with the orchestra was to London and Salzburg in August 1989. They performed [Hector Berlioz](/source/Hector_Berlioz)'s *[The Damnation of Faust](/source/The_Damnation_of_Faust)* with [Sir Georg Solti](/source/Sir_Georg_Solti) conducting. Ten years later, the ensemble won critical acclaim for its performances of [Arnold Schoenberg](/source/Arnold_Schoenberg)'s *[Moses und Aron](/source/Moses_und_Aron)* under [Pierre Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez), and [Johannes Brahms](/source/Johannes_Brahms)'s *[A German Requiem](/source/Ein_deutsches_Requiem)* under [Daniel Barenboim](/source/Daniel_Barenboim) while performing at the Berlin Festtage in April 1999.

Chicago Symphony Orchestra recordings featuring the chorus have won ten [Grammy Awards](/source/Grammy_Awards) from the [National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences](/source/National_Academy_of_Recording_Arts_and_Sciences) for best choral performance. These recordings include hallmarks of the choral repertoire, ranging from [Ludwig van Beethoven](/source/Ludwig_van_Beethoven)'s *[Missa solemnis](/source/Missa_Solemnis_(Beethoven))* to [Johann Sebastian Bach](/source/Johann_Sebastian_Bach)'s *[Mass in B Minor](/source/Mass_in_B_Minor)*, and two recordings each of Brahms's *A German Requiem* and Verdi's *Requiem*. Women of the chorus (prepared by [Duain Wolfe](/source/Duain_Wolfe)) appeared on the recording of Mahler's *[Symphony No. 3](/source/Symphony_No._3_(Mahler))* led by the CSO's principal conductor [Bernard Haitink](/source/Bernard_Haitink). The recording was released in May 2007, as the first recording on the orchestra's own label, [CSO Resound](/source/CSO_Resound).[1]

[Margaret Hillis](/source/Margaret_Hillis) led the chorus as director for 37 years and retired in 1994. [Duain Wolfe](/source/Duain_Wolfe) became the chorus's second director in June 1994. He retired from this position at the end of February 2022.[2] In July 2025, [Donald Palumbo](/source/Donald_Palumbo) became the chorus's third director.[3]

## Chorus directors

- [Margaret Hillis](/source/Margaret_Hillis) (1958–1994)
- [Duain Wolfe](/source/Duain_Wolfe) (1994–2022)
- [Donald Palumbo](/source/Donald_Palumbo) (2025–present)

## Honors and awards

**[Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance](/source/Grammy_Award_for_Best_Choral_Performance)**

- [1977](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1978) - [Sir Georg Solti](/source/Sir_Georg_Solti), conductor and [Margaret Hillis](/source/Margaret_Hillis), chorus director: [VERDI](/source/Giuseppe_Verdi) *[Requiem](/source/Requiem_(Verdi))*
- [1978](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1979) - Sir Georg Solti, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BEETHOVEN](/source/Ludwig_van_Beethoven) *[Missa solemnis](/source/Missa_Solemnis_(Beethoven))*
- [1979](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1980) - Sir Georg Solti, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BRAHMS](/source/Johannes_Brahms) *[A German Requiem](/source/Ein_deutsches_Requiem)*
- [1982](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1983) - Sir Georg Solti, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BERLIOZ](/source/Hector_Berlioz) *[The Damnation of Faust](/source/La_damnation_de_Faust_(Georg_Solti_recording))*
- [1983](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1984) - Sir Georg Solti, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [HAYDN](/source/Joseph_Haydn) *[The Creation](/source/The_Creation_(Haydn))*
- [1984](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1985) - [James Levine](/source/James_Levine), conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BRAHMS](/source/Johannes_Brahms) *[A German Requiem](/source/Ein_deutsches_Requiem)*
- [1986](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1987) - James Levine, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [ORFF](/source/Carl_Orff) *[Carmina Burana](/source/Carmina_Burana_(Orff))*
- [1991](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1992) - Sir Georg Solti, conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BACH](/source/Johann_Sebastian_Bach) [*Mass in B Minor*, BWV 232](/source/Mass_in_B_Minor)
- [1993](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_1994) - [Pierre Boulez](/source/Pierre_Boulez), conductor and Margaret Hillis, chorus director: [BARTÓK](/source/B%C3%A9la_Bart%C3%B3k) *[Cantata profana](/source/Cantata_Profana)*
- [2010](/source/Grammy_Awards_of_2011) - [Riccardo Muti](/source/Riccardo_Muti), conductor and [Duain Wolfe](/source/Duain_Wolfe), chorus director: [VERDI](/source/Giuseppe_Verdi) *[Messa da Requiem](/source/Requiem_(Verdi))*

## References

1. ["CSO Resound"](http://cso.org/resound)

1. ["After 28 Years, Chicago Symphony Chorus Director Duain Wolfe Gives a ‘Joyous Farewell’"](https://www.wfmt.com/2022/02/24/after-28-years-chicago-symphony-chorus-director-duain-wolfe-gives-a-joyous-farewell/). www.wfmt.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022.

1. ["Donald Palumbo Named Next Director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus | Chicago Symphony Orchestra"](https://cso.org/experience/article/24448/donald-palumbo-named-next-director-of-the-chi). *Experience the Chicago Symphony Orchestra*. Retrieved 2025-06-04.

## External links

- [Official website](http://cso.org/about/chicago-symphony-chorus/)
- ["A new factor in the city’s musical life": The Founding of the Chicago Symphony Chorus](http://csoarchives.wordpress.com/2018/03/13/a-new-factor-in-the-citys-musical-life-the-founding-of-the-chicago-symphony-chorus/)
- [Margaret Hillis and the Chicago Symphony Chorus](http://csoarchives.wordpress.com/2016/03/22/125-moments-057-margaret-hillis-and-the-chicago-symphony-chorus/)
- [Interview with Margaret Hillis](http://www.bruceduffie.com/hillis4.html) by Bruce Duffie, July 1986
- [Interview with Duain Wolfe](http://www.bruceduffie.com/duainwolfe.html), March 26, 2001

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chicago Symphony Chorus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Symphony_Chorus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Symphony_Chorus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.