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 48 new works since 1990, including David Lang’s battle hymns (2009), Jennifer Higdon’s On the Death of the Righteous, and Pauline Oliveros’s Urban Echo: Circle Told (2008) in his 20th anniversary season. 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.
| 2012 | Andrea Clearfield | Tse Go La |
| 2012 | Donald St. Pierre | Morning Has Broken |
| 2011 | Rollo Dilworth | RAIN SEQUENCE |
| 2010 | Donald St. Pierre | Three Carols |
| 2009 | Donald St. Pierre | A Visit from St. Nicholas |
| 2009 | David Lang | battle hymns text inspired by writings by Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Foster and Sullivan Ballou, a Civil War soldier |
| 2009 | Robert Maggio Cynthia Folio Peter Hilliard |
Into the Light I, Too, Can Sing a Dream Consider Krakatau Co-commissioned with Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus and Ana Crusis Choir |
| 2009 | Jennifer Higdon | On the Death of the Righteous text by John Donne written to be paired with Verdi Requiem |
| 2008 | Anthony Mosakowski | Resonet in laudibus |
| 2008 | Pauline Oliveros | Urban ECHO: Circle Told Movement and sound improvisation created with Leah Stein – co-commissioned with the Leah Stein Dance Company |
| 2008 | Maurice Wright | Vox Humana for chorus and electroacoustic sound |
| 2007 | Donald St. Pierre |
Caído se la ha un Clavel / A Carnation Has Fallen text from a Christmas poem by Luis de Góngora |
| 2006 | Donald St. Pierre |
little tree text from a Christmas poem by e. e. cummings |
| 2006 | Jan Krzywicki | Fortuna written to be paired with Orff’s Carmina Burana |
| 2006 | Andrea Clearfield | The Golem Psalms based on the legend of the Golem of Prague |
| 2005 | Donald St. Pierre |
A New Song based on a Norwegian folk hymn |
| 2005 | Kim D. Sherman | The Happiest and Unhappiest of Men text from the writings of Beethoven |
| 2004 | Donald St. Pierre |
Agnus Dei written to complete the text of Mozart’s unfinished Mass in C minor |
| 2004 | Jay Krush | Fanfare Felix processional for Mendelssohn Club’s 130th Anniversary concert |
| 2003 | Donald St. Pierre |
Billings with Brass arrangements of hymns by William Billings |
| 2003 | Charles Fussell | High Bridge based on the poetry of Hart Crane |
| 2002 | Donald St. Pierre |
Love Came Down at Christmas text from the poetry of Christina Rossetti |
| 2001 | Donald St. Pierre |
Memento mori written to be paired with Stravinsky’s Les Noces |
| 1999 | Donald St. Pierre |
Ite missa est written to be paired with Beethoven’s Mass in C Major |
| 1999 | Alice Parker | Sing Now of Peace written for Mendelssohn Club’s 125th Anniversary |
| 1999 | Jay Krush | A Fanfare for the Chorus processional for Mendelssohn Club’s 125th Anniversary concert |
| 1998 | James Primosch | Fire-Memory/River-Memory based on the poetry of Denise Levertov |
| 1996 | Donald St. Pierre |
Songs of Sweet Accord written to be paired with Britten’s Ceremony of Carols |
| 1996 | Roberto Sierra | Lux Aeterna written to complement Brahms’ German Requiem |
| 1995 | Donald St. Pierre |
Shepherd based on an American folk-hymn |
| 1995 | Jan Krzywicki | Lute Music written for the multicultural holiday program Golden Voices of the East |
| 1995 | Shui-Lung Ma | America, Our Home Written for a concert celebrating the 125th Anniversary of Philadelphia’s Chinatown |
| 1995 | Jonathan B. Holland | Symphony (of Light) written for African-American multicultural program |
| 1995 | Robert Moran | Winni ille Pu a Latin version of the popular A. A. Milne stories |
| 1994 | Kim D. Sherman | A Winter Solstice Ritual processional for the December holiday concerts |
| 1994 | Cynthia Folio | Touch the Angel’s Hand text from Fra Giovanni’s famous letter of consolation |
| 1994 | Robert Stern | Returning the Song written for the Chinese multicultural program Voices from the Bamboo Grove |
| 1993 | Charles Fussell | Invocation Mendelssohn Club’s performance was featured on NPR’s First Art program |
| 1993 | Ricky Ian Gordon | Towards Independence music taken from the play Towards Independence, which premiered at the American Music Theater Festival |
| 1992 | Jack Délano | La Rosa y el Colibrí written for the Hispanic multicultural program Songs of the New World |
| 1992 | Charles Fussell | Specimen Days written for the centenary of the death of Walt Whitman; recorded on the Koch International label |
| 1991 | Jan Krzywicki | Poem a choral vocalise inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost |
| 1991 | Byung Chul Choi | The Apostle Song commissioned for the Korean multicultural program An American Seoul |
| 1991 | Robert Moran | Agnus Dei and Ite missa est written to complete the text of Mozart’s unfinished Mass in C minor |
| 1990 | Osvaldo Golijov |
Cantata de los Inocentes |
| 1990 | Robert Moran | Requiem: Chant du Cygne written to complement the Mozart Requiem, recorded by Mendelssohn Club on the Argo label |
Donald St. Pierre