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Unofficial Houston Symphony Chorus Archive and History

Compiled by Roger Cutler and Dave Nussmann

As of June, 2016 this site is no longer being updated.

The group, originally known as the Houston Chorale, was founded in 1946 by Alfred Urbach, then principal cellist of the Houston Symphony. The Chorale made its debut with the Houston Symphony in 1949 with a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This inaugurated what was to be a lasting relationship, one that has produced hundreds of memorable performances of the great choral masterworks led by some of the world's leading conductors. In 1986, the Chorale was renamed the Houston Symphony Chorus.

The materials of this section have been researched and organized by Roger Cutler and Dave Nussmann with the help of many members.

  • Performance History Database, including Works, Composers, Conductors, Soloists, Venues, and links to programs, reviews and some other materials. Over its sixty-five-year history the Chorus has performed over 1000 concerts.
    • Complete - A customizable display of all the performances of the HSC from 1947 to present.
    • Modern - A customizable display of performances of the "modern era", 1986 to present.
    • Spreadsheet - The raw data on which the displays above are based.  This is the master copy of the history.
  • History of Staff, Chorus Council and Volunteers.
  • Programs, Essays and Reviews 1985 to present.  These materials are similar to those in the Scrapbooks for earlier years (see below), but organized by performance and linked in the customizable history displays above.
  • Photographs 1982 to present.
  • Scrapbooks 1940 - 1985, containing programs, reviews, newspaper articles, etc  Plus the 1989 - 1992 HSC Newsletter "Sing Out".
  • Narrative History (1946-2007, written by Dave Nusssmann on the occasion of the chorus' Sixtieth Anniversary)
  • History 1946-1997, written by Dave Nussmann on the occasion of the chorus' Fiftieth Anniversary
  • Favorite Works Survey
  • HSC Greatest Hits - top sixteen works in times performed Number of concerts per season, plus selected highlights The matinée performance of the Christmas Pops on Sunday, December 12, 2010, was the 1000th performance of the Houston Symphony Chorus. The charts on the right (click on the thumbnails to get big versions) summarize our first 1000 concerts by year, calling out some highlights, and the top sixteen works in terms of number of times performed.
  • Do-It-Yourself Roster