Lebanon County Choral Society
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Our History

Picture
        The Lebanon County Choral Society was first organized in the winter of 1889. Its first performance, conducted by S. A. McAdam was held on May 22, 1890 and included selections by Haydn, Grieg, Mendelssohn, and Millard.
        A second concert was performed at Fisher's Hall and a third at Zion Lutheran Church. Other concerts in the early years of the organization were performed at the Court House, in Mt. Gretna, and at the Fisher Opera House.
        Fisher's Hall and the Fisher Opera House comprised the first and second floors of what was later known as the Academy Theater. Mr. and Mrs. Philip Fisher had moved into the Lebanon area and were responsible for building the hall which bore their name.
        The Lebanon Historical Society has a picture of the Lebanon County and the Reading Choral Societies giving a combined Messiah concert directed by Professor Berg of Reading on January 20, 1904.
        The Lebanon County Choral Society was reorganized in 1974 and was incorporated in April, 1980 under the corporate not-for-profit code of 1972.
       Since then the ensemble has performed major works by Bach, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Vaughn Williams, Vivaldi and Rutter, to name a few. The group's musical style ranges from Renaissance madrigals to Christmas carols and from sacred anthems to the Broadway stage, singing in numerous languages from Latin to Zulu.

         The addition of the Lebanon County Youth Chorus (formerly the Lebanon County Children's Chorus) underscores the Society's continuing efforts to reach out to the community and to foster music appreciation while furthering music education for all ages.
       In addition to annual Christmas and Spring concerts, the Society offers a concerts with an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet celebrating Valentine's Day, and presents programs at area nursing homes and at civic events.
       The Choral Society has performed at New York's Lincoln Center with the Lebanon Valley  College Alumni Chorale and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, and has also performed at the Washington National Cathedral, at the Hershey Theater with the Hershey Symphony Orchestra, at Longwood Gardens, at the Hershey Museum and at the Lebanon County Historical Society.