The Carolina Master Chorale is recognized as the premiere symphonic chorus in the region covering northeast South Carolina and southeast North Carolina and is the oldest community singing organization in the area surrounding Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, home of the CMC. In 2011-2012 the Chorale will celebrate its 29th concert season, the last eleven of which have flourished under the artistic leadership of the ensemble’s fourth and current music director, Timothy Koch. Dr. Koch has partnered in each of those seasons with accompanist and composer in residence Dr. Andrew Fowler.
The repertoire of the Carolina Master Chorale encompasses a wide variety of innovative and critically-acclaimed programming that includes dynamic performances of traditional and lesser-known choral and choral/orchestral masterworks, full operatic productions, adventurous contemporary music, numerous commissions and premieres (incorporating well over twenty new works by composer in residence, Andrew Fowler), and lighter fare from Broadway to vocal jazz to gospel music.
The annual season of the Carolina Master Chorale features four subscription programs, most of which are performed in multiple locations. A typical CMC season program features performances in venues from Pawley’s Island, South Carolina to Sunset Beach, North Carolina and west to Conway, South Carolina. The CMC also performs as an invited guest artist on community concert series throughout the Carolinas.
For several years the Long Bay Symphony has engaged the CMC as its principal symphonic chorus. The Chorale performs annually on the Long Bay Symphony season series and the LBS will typically accompany the Chorale on one of its subscription programs. The organizations have collaborated to perform Bach’s St. John Passion, Beethoven’s Mass in C and Symphony No. 9, the Requiems of Mozart, Brahms and Verdi, Verdi’s Stabat Mater, Schoenberg’s Survivor from Warsaw, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, Holst’s The Planets, Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and the operas La Traviata of Verdi and Carmen of
