The Capitol Hill Chorale is a 100-voice volunteer mixed choir with members throughout the Capitol Hill and Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.[1] Founded in 1993, the Chorale performs a principally classical repertoire with an emphasis on Eastern European liturgical works[2] and early American song.[3]

Capitol Hill Chorale
Also known asCHC
OriginWashington, D.C.,
United States
GenresChoral, Classical
OccupationChoir
Instrument~100 voices
Years active1993–present
MembersArtistic Director
Frederick Binkholder

Accompanist
Brad Rinaldo

President
Radharani De
WebsiteOfficial Website

In 2010, the chorale performed Zakaria Paliashvili's Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. The Liturgy, though written by a major Georgian composer, was suppressed under both the Tsarist and Soviet governments and largely lost. Its performance by the Capitol Hill Chorale was likely the first since the Bolshevik Revolution as well as its North American premiere, and this prompted Georgian Ambassador to the United States Batu Kutelia to invite the Chorale to perform the piece in Tbilisi.[4][5]

In 2014, the Chorale appointed Massachusetts-based choral composer Kevin Siegfried its first composer-in-residence. This collaboration resulted in several new works drawing on the American tradition, including settings of traditional Shaker songs and Sioux texts.[6]

In 2019, the Chorale toured to Tbilisi and Kutaisi, Georgia, performing Paliashvili's masterwork Liturgy along with a program of American music.

References

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  1. ^ Fundraiser helps the Capitol Hill Chorale make music, Washington Post, Capitol Business, Monday, May 24, 2010.
  2. ^ Our Choral Capitol, The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU 88.5 Radio, Washington, December 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Libresco, Leah (March 26, 2014). "Hope without Sentimentality". Unequally Yoked. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  4. ^ Solash, Richard, Forgotten Work By Master Georgian Composer Reincarnated By U.S. Chorale, Radio Free Europe, October 26, 2010.
  5. ^ Weinstein, Elizabeth (October 24, 2014). "Capitol Hill Chorale Revives Lost Georgian Masterpiece". WAMU American University Radio. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  6. ^ "Capitol Hill Chorale Announces Kevin Siegfried as Resident Composer". ChoralNet. March 21, 2014. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
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