Founded in 1950, The Babylon Chorale began as an integral part of the Babylon Village community, and, with the infectious love of choral music, soon drew members from all parts of Long Island. While the size of its membership has varied, with membership reaching a full hundred voices in the 1980s, the Chorale has continued to provide an opportunity for people who love choral music to share their gift of singing with the communities of the south shore and beyond. Its appeal to singers of diverse ages and backgrounds is reflected in the voices of its almost 90 members today.
H. Dudley Mairs, then head of the Music Department of the Babylon Public Schools, was the Chorale’s founding conductor. The Chorale continued to expand its repertoire under the batons of many more gifted conductors and has been accompanied by some of the finest instrumentalists on Long Island.
Traditionally performing three concerts a year, the Chorale offers a full spectrum of music from classical pieces to Broadway, from Bach to the Beatles. Over its long history, the Chorale has performed with such notable groups as the South Shore Symphony, Massapequa Symphony, Great Neck Symphony, the Camerata Singers, St. Killian Boychoir; and the Eglevsky Ballet Company. The Chorale has also produced many staged and costumed productions, including a cabaret night that showcased many other talents of our membership through the years.
The Chorale, ever versatile and happy to share its love of music, has enjoyed singing across Long Island, as well as in places such as Washington, DC, New York City, and Gettysburg. It has accepted invitations to perform at the Westbury Music Fair with Rosemary Clooney and Paul Anka, at the historic Sacred Heart Chapel of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, at the Bethpage Ballpark for the Long Island Ducks, and since 2004 at the annual Bay Shore Arts Festival by the Bay. Jared Berry, the current and eighth Artistic Director in its almost seventy year history, has garnered invitations from other venues and facilitated the Chorale’s participation in Manhattan Concert Productions concerts at Carnegie Hall in 2014 and again in 2016. He brings a new vision to the Chorale that assures a bright future for our 70+ year history!
Some of its members have carried their love of music on U.S. and international major stages. Others have found satisfaction in singing great music close to home. For all of them, The Babylon Chorale has become “family”. With a song in its heart, the Babylon Chorale family remains honored and privileged to spread the joy of music to its family and friends around Babylon and its neighboring communities, and throughout Long Island.