Professional Adult Choirs

This chapter provides an overview of the history of professional choruses and offers insight into the structure, choral pedagogy, history of choral music, and current state of professional choral ensembles in the United States. The authors first provide an historical overview of the professional choir, demonstrating that professional choral choruses have been a staple of Western society since the medieval era. They then report on the limited body of research dealing with the rehearsal pedagogy of professional ensembles. Data were gleaned from scholarly publications and from information provided by Chorus America. Additional data comes from personal interviews with conductors of professional choirs, from singers who perform as professional choristers, and from one co-author’s experience as a founding member of The King’s Singers. The authors note the need for further research into this rapidly expanding field.