The Borough of Manhattan Community College Downtown Chorus (www.downtownchorus.org) is a choral organization dedicated to fostering and sharing the art and joy of choral music and to enriching and educating our City’s downtown community through concert performances of music from diverse historical periods and cultures. Members include students, faculty and staff from BMCC, as well as residents and professional of the downtown and neighboring communities.
Downtown Chorus performs regularly on campus, including collaborations with the Downtown Symphony Orchestra (www.downtownsymphony.org) on its Messiah Open Sing in December and Opera Production in May. In addition, Downtown Chorus performs frequently with BMCC Select Chorus and College Chorus on and off campus. Since 2008, members from these choruses participated and performed in Carnegie Hall receiving excellent remarks!
The chorus’s founder and artistic director is Dr. Eugenia Oi Yan Yau, professor of music at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY). At BMCC she directs the college’s choirs, including the BMCC Select Chorus which she founded in 2005, and teaches voice. Dr. Yau has also served as the director of the Pace University Downtown Chorale and is currently the director of music for the children and youth at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City.
The BMCC Downtown Chorus rehearses on Tuesday evenings, September through May, at the BMCC Fiterman Hall campus, room F325, from 7:15-9:30 PM. The first fall rehearsal is scheduled for Sept 1, 2015.
Downtown Chorus is looking for many new voices to join a friendly — and varied — core group of singers. Singers of all experience levels and of all vocal ranges are welcome. The ability to read music is a plus but not a requirement as is prior chorale experience. Interested persons should contact Dr. Yau at (212) 220-8000 ext. 7240 or e-mail eyau@bmcc.cuny.edu for an appointment; or visit www.downtownchorus.org