PROUD TRADITION

90 Years Young

The Heritage Chorale celebrates its 90th season in 2026–2027. Originally named the Framingham Choral Society, the Chorale was founded in the fall of 1937 by a small group of Framingham residents on a budget of just $62! Ever since, except for a brief time during World War II, the Chorale has rehearsed and performed in Framingham and nearby communities. Throughout the Covid years, members continued their singing—rehearsing via Zoom and performing with masks. The size of the Chorale has fluctuated from 40 to 100 singers, but our resolve to share music of the highest quality with each other and our communities has never wavered.

During its long history, the Chorale has performed a wide range of classical and contemporary choral works. In its earliest seasons, annual productions of Handel’s Messiah drew sell-out audiences. Over the years, we have showcased magnificent classical music by composers such as Brahms, Haydn, and Mozart, while expanding the Chorale’s repertoire to embrace contemporary works by Morten Lauridsen, Daniel Pinkham, and Randall Thompson, the diverse and powerful music of women composers, and music from around the world.

During the 2025–2026 season this tradition of musical variety continued. The fall concert featured Mozart’s Requiem, paired with selections from Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day. The spring concert, America at 250 – Of Thee We Sing, celebrated American ideals of liberty and hope through music honoring the nation’s heritage. Highlights included Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom, based on writings by Thomas Jefferson, and the world premiere of a cantata inspired by the writings of Helen Keller by local composer Leonardo Ciampa.

In February 1988, the Chorale began an annual tradition of presenting lighter musical fare—a Pops-style program often built around a theme and featuring popular selections from opera, movies, and musical theater.

Recent winter Pops concerts have delighted audiences. “Come Out and Play!” (2024) brought together songs ranging from Moonlight in Vermont to For Good, and You Will Be Found to Stand by Me. “Around the World” (2025) celebrated the international reach of music. The 2026 program, “Page to Stage – A Literary Journey,” explored the connection between literature and musical theater, featuring selections from Broadway shows inspired by stories and literary works, including Into the Woods, Guys and Dolls, Godspell, Man of La Mancha, Ragtime, Candide, and Oliver!

Anniversary Celebrations 

Under Music Director Steven Lipsitt, the Chorale celebrates its remarkable history while continuing to explore the breadth and enduring power of choral music. This 90th milestone season offers an especially rich program of concerts. The fall concert pairs Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis (“Lord Nelson” Mass) with two of Handel’s Coronation Anthems. The Winter Pops concert—"90 Years, By George!"—celebrates the music of George Gershwin, who passed away in the year of our founding, but whose music lives on.  The spring concert features Bruckner’s Mass in E minor and selected works by American composers. 

The Chorale celebrated its 75th anniversary during the 2011–2012 season. Looking back to 1937, we recalled the year when U.S. Steel raised workers’ wages to $5 a day, Margaret Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Gone with the Wind, Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific, the Red Sox acquired the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams, and Dr. Edward Gilday founded the Framingham Choral Society, now known as the Heritage Chorale.

Then we looked forward to three exciting concerts and special anniversary events.

The fall concert featured Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang, in collaboration with Boston College’s Symphony Orchestra. The Pops Diamond Jubilee Concert presented hit songs from the Chorale’s anniversary years: 1937, 1962, 1987, and 2012. The spring concert featured a performance of Carl Orff’s much-loved Carmina Burana, accompanied by a small professional ensemble of piano and percussion.

In addition, Chorale members attended a choral workshop in October and an end-of-the-year social event in May. A concert tour to Montréal and Québec City rounded out a very special anniversary season.

Collaborations

Collaborations expand the Chorale’s opportunities for artistic partnership and musical discovery, while bringing the joy of choral music to audiences throughout the area.

In 2015, the Chorale collaborated with Monroe Crossing, one of America’s finest bluegrass bands, to present The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass by Carol Barnett. Later that same year, the Chorale presented John Rutter’s rarely heard Mass of the Children in collaboration with VOICES Boston, the superb children’s chorus that frequently performs with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The Chorale’s “Shakespeare and Friends" program in 2016 was a collaboration with the Handel and Haydn Society’s Young Women’s Chorus (YWC), directed by Alyson Greer.

The Chorale has also partnered with area orchestras to perform such major pieces as Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 and Brahms’ A German Requiem with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Boston College Symphony Orchestra.

In March 2027, the Chorale joins the Rivers Symphony Orchestra for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony “Finale, ‘Ode to Joy,’” and Handel’s Coronation Anthems. 

Concert Tours

In July 2010, the Chorale embarked on its first concert tour, performing in Vienna, Austria, and Prague, Czech Republic, as well as at Melk Abbey.

In the summer of 2012, the Chorale traveled to Canada on a tour of Montréal and Québec City.

The Chorale’s most recent international tour took place from June 29 to July 6, 2015, when singers traveled to Ireland for concerts in Galway, Derry, and Dublin.