THE LONG ISLAND CHORAL SOCIETY is proud of its unique existence as the oldest continuously
performing musical group on Long Island. Celebrating its 90th anniversary in
2019, it was founded in 1929 by Dr. Maurice Garabrant who was the organist at
the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Garden City. Norman Hollett and Robert
Kennedy, both organists at the Cathedral, were subsequent conductors. In 1979,
Meredith Elaine Baker became the fourth conductor when the Choral Society became
independent of the Cathedral. 2019 marked her 40th year leading the group.
The Long Island Choral Society has a reputation for singing the finest works of
choral music in performances of the highest caliber with professional soloists
and orchestras. This fine all-volunteer choir is comprised of more than forty
singers, both amateur and professional, who come from more than forty
communities in the Metropolitan area. Among singers of note who have performed
with the Long Island Choral Society in the past are John Charles Thomas, Robert
Merrill, Gladys Swarthout, Ray deVoll, Betsy Norden, Muriel Costa-Greenspon,
and more recently Gary Glaze, Gregory Mercer and Patrick Carfizzi.
Since 1929, the Long Island Choral Society has presented premiere performances
of music by Honegger, Langlais, Britten, Bernstein, and Stravinsky. They also
performed in the movie This is Cinerama. In 1985 and 1986, the Long Island
Choral Society sang with the U.S. Military Academy Band at West Point in their
1812 Overture Concert on Labor Day Weekend, the first non-military group to do
so. The Choral Society was privileged to sing at Federal Hall in New York City
during the celebration of the Bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution in 1987.
In 1998 they made their Carnegie Hall debut in Verdi’s Requiem, and they have
returned there several times, notably for two performances of Mahler’s Eighth
Symphony with the Canterbury Choral Society of New York, conducted by one of
Meredith Baker’s mentors, Charles Dodsley Walker.
We hope you can join us for one or more concerts during this, our Ninety-first Season.
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