The Hampshire Choral Society was founded in 1952 by members of the Northampton-Amherst Chorus, an ad hoc group of singers assembled to help the Springfield Symphony with a performance of the Berlioz Requiem. In the fifty years since, we have become an integral part of our community. We have sung for the occasion of the Northampton Tercentenary celebration in 1954, for Hatfield's Tercentury in 1970, and, most recently, for Northampton's 350th Convocation. In 1959, for the town of Amherst's Bicentennial, HCS joined with other singers to premiere Randall Thompson's famous settings of Robert Frost's poems, Frostiana. Thompson conducted the group, and Frost was in the audience.
Over the course of fifty years, we have had nine different directors and thousands of members, performed throughout the Pioneer Valley, and toured Romania and England. In 1999, under then-director Elizabeth Hart, we created two new choral groups; the Young People's Chorus, a
choir for elementary to high-school aged children, and Singers' Project, an elite vocal ensamble. The Young People's Chorus is thriving under the talented direction of K.C. Conlan, and often joins with HCS in our fall concert. Singers' Project is no longer affiliated
with HCS, but is flourishing under Ms. Hart's direction.
Our current director, Allan Taylor, took over from Ms. Hart in 2001. In 2003, our 50th Anniversary season, Mr. Taylor conducted us to rave reviews in a performance of Felix Mendelssohn's oratorio Elijah. Under his leadership we have continued to thrive. We are now a chorus of over 130 voices, and our audiences
and reputation are only growing.