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The Buffalo Music Hall Of Fame

It all began with one person. This 120-volunteer choir stands to this day as a stunning reminder that one man’s vision can evolve and expand far and wide. Although he died in 1983, the founder of the Buffalo Choral Arts Society (BCAS), Robert Schulz, would shed tears of joy if he could see for himself how successful his choir has become.

 

Schulz’s vision to take his choir with him to sing in all corners of Western New York began in 1966. John Ricca helped to transition the chorus as conductor after Schulz’s death. Marcia A. Giambrone became the choir’s new director in 1987 and the group has since made its mark around the globe.

 

As a financially independent 501c (3) organization,“This 120-voice chorus has been singing throughout Western New York, North America and Europe since 1965,” said Gail Leary, BCAS’s current vice president. “Some of the performance highlights of Buffalo Choral Arts Society have included Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, France; the Mozarteum in Salzberg, Austria; the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. ... our nation's Statue of Liberty,” and many, many more.

 

Perhaps one of the choir’s greatest memories, according to Giambrone, was when they performed in Washington during the summer of 2011.

“We were one of the first secular choirs that were allowed to sing a choral Evensong service at the National Cathedral,” she said. “We also performed for the wounded soldiers, their families and staff at the Walter Reed Hospital, and we even got to sing at the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage.”

 

To lead the nation in prayer was not just a gift for the Buffalo Choral Arts Society, it was a memorable day for all who were there to witness the strength and synchronicity of their sound.  That kind of performance takes a special kind of leadership. Schulz set the foundation to an innovative aural philosophy that this choir holds as its standard to this day.

 

"Anyone can sing in Choral Arts," Schulz said in the year that he died. "You don't have to have a solo voice, but you do have to have a little humility to bend with the chorus. We want the average voice, one that doesn't stick out like a sore thumb."

 

To Schulz, teamwork and cooperation were more important than anything else. He believed that ordinary people in a chorus can make great music, and he was right. To this day, the group has a long legacy of  “educators as well as students, executives, librarians, doctors, lawyers, and many others from all walks of life,” according to Leary.

 

“We’re always bringing in folks,” said Giambrone. “I remember this last set of auditions in August. There was a woman who had lived in Canada for a number of years and she came to sing with us.”

 

According to Giambrone, being integrated into this choir is like being a part of a big, loving family.

 

She added, “This woman, on the first day of rehearsal, we started singing, ‘Give me your tired, your poor,’ ‘God Bless America,’ ‘The Battle Hymn of the Republic,’ and she was in tears. ‘It was just so good to be back’ said this newest member of BCAS.”

 

Perhaps just as cherished by the community of Western New York are BCAS’s annual Christmas Concerts. BCAS performs at concerts three to four times a year, but their annual Christmas concerts are a fan favorite.

 

“This is the second concert of theirs that I have had the opportunity to attend,” said John Szablewski in his concert review of BCAS’s 50th anniversary holiday season performance at the St. Mary’s Church. “Highlights of the evening include the chorus singing two challenging numbers … which were so powerful and audibly pleasing that a smile comes to your face in sheer fascination at the abilities of these singers.”

In April of that same year, BCAS held its Riviera Theater concert that featured music from Broadway, and then it  concluded its 50th anniversary on June 5 at the St. Joseph Cathedral.

 

“We ... commissioned a piece, "O Lux Beatissima" for brass and organ,” said Leary. “It [was] premiered at [the St. Joseph Cathedral] under the baton of Z. Randall Stroope, its world-renowned composer.”

 

To not only have Stroope as guest conductor, but for him to have commissioned a piece specifically for this occasion, was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for BCAS. To end its 50th jubilee year of bringing choral music to Western New York audiences on such a high note was a treasure that Giambrone and her team will never forget.

 

As of October 2018, BCAS celebrates its 53rd season as it becomes the first chorus ever inducted into the Buffalo Music Hall of Fame.

 

Written by: Victor Schmitt-Bush

 

For more information, go to their website: buffalochoralarts.org