About Mendelssohn Club

A major force in choral music

Founded in 1874 by William Wallace Gilchrist, Mendelssohn Club has been a major force in choral music in Philadelphia and beyond, with notable historic performances including the 1916 U.S. premiere of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with Leopold Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra.  Other historical premieres include the first performance outside the Soviet Union of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 13, and the Philadelphia premieres of Brahms’ German Requiem, Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible, Scriabin’s Symphony No. 1, and Bartók’s Cantata Profana. History

Groundbreaking works combining the new with the old

Under the dynamic leadership of Alan Harler, now in his 20th season as Music Director, Mendelssohn Club is known for its professional productions of choral/orchestral programs, as well as performances in guest engagements with prominent area orchestras.  Harler’s programs combine new or rarely heard works with more traditional works in order to enhance the presentation of each, and to provide the audience with a familiar context for the new experience. The Music

Commissioned and premiered 36 new works since 1990

Dedicated to the ongoing vitality of the choral art, Mendelssohn Club and Alan Harler have made a significant commitment to the commissioning of new choral music, and have commissioned and premiered 36 new works since 1990, with six more coming in 2008-2009. This commitment has earned Mendelssohn Club an ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming.  Mendelssohn Club has also been honored with an award from the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations for “bringing the community together in song” through Harler’s multicultural concert programming.

Collaborations expand our reach beyond the choral community

Mendelssohn Club also explores interdisciplinary concert presentations, including the Philadelphia premiere of Richard Einhorn’s 1994 cantata, Voices of Light, with the 1928 silent film masterpiece by Carl Dreyer, The Passion of Joan of Arc.  A November 2006 co-production of Carmina Burana with the contemporary Leah Stein Dance Company was the first dance collaboration in Mendelssohn Club’s recent history. Collaborations

Advocates for emerging artists

Mendelssohn Club is known for its efforts to encourage young musical artists. Each year, a conductor is chosen for its apprenticeship program with Alan Harler, music director. Mendelssohn Club also hires talented young vocal soloists.
Soloists | Apprenticeships

What Others Say:

[Mendelssohn Club] has always possessed a full-bodied and well-placed sound, but it is manifestly evident ... that it has profited greatly from Harler's imaginative programming and meticulous tutelage.
-David F. Tilman, The Jewish Exponent

The Mendelssohn Club was utterly fantastic.
-The Saratogian

A choir of exemplary power and peerless delicacy...under Harler's golden touch."
-- Chestnut Hill Local

 

Mission Statement

One of this country's oldest choruses, Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia seeks to challenge, enrich, serve and fulfill its singing members, patrons and audiences through the excellence of its performances:

  • to challenge the ear and mind with innovative programming that embraces the finest choral music of many cultures, traditions, periods and styles;
  • to enrich its members by enhancing their knowledge and practice of music;
  • to serve choral music through the commissioning of new works, the advocacy of new artists and the development of new audiences;
  • to fulfill all who listen to and love music, through the distinctive beauty and power of its performances.