The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus
About the Chorus
The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus is one of the few professionally trained, all-volunteer choruses sponsored by a major American orchestra. In addition to performing with The Cleveland Orchestra in concerts at the Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Concert Hall each season, the Chorus has appeared with the Orchestra on tour in Boston, Brussels, Edinburgh, Frankfurt, London, Lucerne, Luxembourg, Miami, Paris, and New York. The group has also toured on its own, either a cappella or with other ensembles, to the Casals Festival in San Juan, Puerto Rico; the Chautauqua Institution in New York; and to venues in England, Wales, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Germany.
Cleveland Orchestra Chorus members hail from nearly 50 northeast Ohio communities. Together, the group’s 140 members volunteer more than 30,000 hours annually through rehearsals and performances.
History
Today’s Cleveland Orchestra Chorus was first formed in 1952 at the request of Music Director George Szell. As early as the Orchestra’s third season, in 1920-21, founding manager Adella Prentiss Hughes issued an invitation for Clevelanders to join a Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. It lasted less than a year, with subsequent Orchestra performances of choral works using choruses from local churches and colleges. Soon after Severance Hall opened in 1931, a second Cleveland Orchestra choral ensemble was established. Known as the Cleveland Philharmonic Chorus, it flourished for nearly a decade and provided the choral forces for the many staged operas presented under Music Director Artur Rodzinski’s direction.
Finally, the Orchestra’s fourth music director, George Szell (1946-70), initiated the creation of a permanent chorus to be affiliated with the Orchestra and made up of local singers admitted by audition. The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus began performing in 1952 and quickly proved its artistic worth. In 1956, Szell invited the young and nationally prominent choral conductor Robert Shaw to join the Orchestra’s conducting staff as associate conductor and chorus conductor, further solidifying the Chorus’s reputation for quality. The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus has maintained its position as a leading American orchestra chorus under the subsequent leadership of choral directors Clayton H. Krehbiel (1967-69), Margaret Hillis (1969-71), Robert Page (1971-89), Gareth Morrell (1989-98), Robert Porco (1998-2017), and Lisa Wong (2017 - present).
Since its creation, the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus has been featured on television, radio broadcasts, and in numerous recordings with The Cleveland Orchestra — including 7 Grammy Award nominations and 4 Grammy Awards. The group has joined them in 1,300 concerts since 1952, including 28 appearances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. More recently, the Chorus has created twelve albums with The Cleveland Orchestra, filled with joyous and heart-warming Christmas music, and used the power of that music as fund-raising premiums in an effort to help defray the cost of touring and operations.
Auditions
Auditions for both the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus and Blossom Festival Chorus are held each spring. For audition dates and requirements, send an email to chorus@clevelandorchestra.com, or visit here for current audition information.
To be notified of the Chorus's next round of auditions, you can sign up here.
Chorus Leadership
Jill Harbaugh
Director, Choral Operations
2026-2027 Season Roster
Emily Austin
Amy Foster Babinski
Claudia Barriga
Debbie Bates
Riley Beistel
Jesse Bobbitt
Kristina Bodnar
Lucas Buhrman *
Christian Bush
Nicholas Campagna
Emily Carlson
Signe Carlson
Carla Cashman
Ruby Chen
Rong Chen
Barbara J. Clugh
Eric Coffelt
Nick Connavino
Ronnie Dailey
Manzili Denis
Christopher Dewald
Caitlin DiFranco
Amber Dimoff
Maryssa Duncan
Shannon Dunning *
Brooke Emmel
Colleen Endrizzi
Emily Engle
David Erlandson
Hope Ezell
Molly Falasco
Lisa Fedorovich
Davis Fischer *
Thomas Flowers
Andrew Fowler
Jeffrey D. Gershman
Brianna Gibson
Jennifer Gilles
Julia Halamek
Richard Hall
Rebecca S Hall
Michael Heid
Sarah Henley
Shawna Hill
Kurtis B. Hoffman
Lisa Hrusovsky
Karen S. Hunt
Sarah Hutchins
Rachel Imhoff
Kim Jacoby
Shannon R. Jakubczak
James Johnston
Sarah Jones-Gould
Lizzie Kaboski
Daniel M. Katz
Maggie Keverline
Adam Kilo
Rebecca King
Katie Kitchen
Hope Klassen-Kay
Brianna Knapp
EvaCecilia Koh
Peter Kvidera
Adam Landry
Gabriel Lawrence
Elise Leitzel
Jason Levy
Alannah Lopez
Lorenzo Lopez
Kate Macy
Victoria Marquard-Schultz
Sophia Marshall
Tyler Mason
David McCallum
Danielle S. McDonald
Karla McMullen
Gracie Mino
Brianna Mosley
Julie Myers-Pruchenski
Shanely Niemi
Laura Obergefell
Glenn Obergefell
Jennifer Heinert O'Leary
Dawn Ostrowski
Katie Holbert
Victoria Peacock
Sarah Peterson
John Philipps
Trevor Pollack
Stephanie Popik
Francisco Prado
Grace Prentice
Leah Puorro
Jylian Purtee
Lisa M. Ramsey
Brandon Randall
Mandi Rice
Matt Rizer
Ted Rodenborn
Jacob Rumelfanger
Emma Russell
Nathan A. Russell
Lee Scantlebury
Robert Seaman
Gavin Slate
Ellie Kleber Smith
Greg Smith
Andrew Stamp
Emma Stamper
Ina Stanek-Michaelis
Melanie Tabak
Megan Tettau
Rachel Thibo
Kristen Tobey
J.R. Tomkinson
Alexander Truver
Matt Turell
Nicolas Turnberrez
Meagan Ulery
Sharilee Walker
Yung Wang *
Laure Wasserbauer
Chelsey Webb
Haley Wheeler
Maggie Fairman Williams
Caroline Willoughby
Bob Winters
Jennifer R. Woda
Debra Yasinow
Ryan Yonek
Martin Young
Lynne Leutenberg Yulish
Philip Zielinski
Paul Zito
*Shari Bierman Singer Fellowship Recipient