Honolulu Symphony Chorus
The Honolulu Symphony Chorus was organized in 1978 by the Honolulu Symphony to provide the Symphony with a chorus of the size and caliber needed to perform major choral works with the orchestra. In 1995, the Chorus reorganized as the Oʻahu Chora Society (OCS), and remains an independent, non‐profit corporation.
About the Choristers
Our singers (listed here) are representative of the Honolulu community. They come from many professions and several of Hawaiʻi's ethnic groups, and are united by their talent and love for choral singing. Membership is open to experienced singers from high school age through senior citizens, and requires passing an audition and paying membership dues.
Selected Performances
The Chorus has performed such choral masterworks as Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast," Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky," Haydn's "Creation," Handel's "Messiah," and requiems by Brahms, Mozart, Verdi, Fauré, and Duruflé. They have performed under conductors Timoth Carney, Sergiu Commissiona, Katsuhisa Hattori, Skitch Henderson, Donald Johanos, Karen Kennedy, Nola Nāhulu, Aaron Mahi, Eiji Oe, Scott Speck, Samuel Wong, Sir David Willcocks and renowned choral conductors Joseph Flummerfelt, Robert Page, and Robert Shaw.
On November 30, 2003, the Symphony Chorus was featured in a Carnegie Hall performance of Mozart's "Vesperae solennes de confessore" with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and under the baton of Karen Kennedy. Other notable performances by the group include the funerals of Hawaiʻi's U.S. Senator Spark Matsunaga and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, and on the occasions of the Queen Liliʻuokalani Commemoration, the Hawaiʻi visits of President Bill Clinton and His Holiness the Dalai Lama and, in May 2001, the premier of the film "Pearl Harbor" aboard the USS John C. Stennis.
