News Release

Phoenix Bach Choir becomes "Phoenix Chorale"
--New name recognizes the artistic breadth
of Arizona's professional choir
Phoenix Chorale celebrates 50th Anniversary Season in 2008-09
and 10 years with Artistic Director Charles Bruffy

(Phoenix, August, 25, 2008) – On the eve of its 50th Anniversary Season, the Phoenix Bach Choir has announced that beginning with the 2008-09 concert season the organization’s new name has changed to Phoenix Chorale.  The change follows a two-year process of discussion and evaluation, and is intended to reflect the Chorale’s extended artistic breadth and to position the group for further expanding its international profile through a series of new recordings and tours.  With the 2008-09 season, Artistic Director Charles Bruffy celebrates his tenth year conducting the Chorale.

In the summer of 2007, the Phoenix Bach Choir held a weekend of strategic planning sessions in order to develop a new vision for the organization.  Funded by the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust, the sessions were attended by current and former board members, staff, singers, donors, subscribers, and industry leaders.  Followed by several months of intensive internal analysis and organizational self-examination, a new vision and strategic plan was outlined and put into place.  Since then, a number of these items have already been achieved including: a consensus on the vision for the future of the organization; determination and beginning the building of infrastructure necessary to achieve the new vision and mission; the addition of a full-time Director of Marketing & Communications; and changing the organization’s name to Phoenix Chorale. 

“The Board felt the name Phoenix Chorale is a better description of what we do and a better reflection of our new mission and vision.  We feel this name truly reflects who we are,” said Loral Deatherage, Board President of the Phoenix Chorale.  “Our brand name has changed but our product is the same.  Think of it this way, we are the Phoenix Chorale – new name and packaging, same great product.”

Regarded as one of the finest professional choral ensembles in America, the Phoenix Chorale is dedicated to commissioning, performing and recording new music and giving a voice to lesser-known music by talented composers.  Audiences around the world have been treated to the sounds of the Chorale through performances in the United States and Canada, broadcasts on NPR’s Performance Today, on radio stations across the United States such as WGBH (Boston), WFMT (Chicago), WQXR (New York), KBAQ (Phoenix) and abroad such as BBC Radio3, Broadcasting Corporations in Australia, Finland and New Zealand and Classic FM (London).

Earlier this year, in February, the Phoenix Chorale’s recording entitled Grechaninov: Passion Week, was nominated for four Grammy® Awards including ‘Best Classical Album of the Year,’ ‘Best Choral Performance,’ ‘Best Surround Sound Album,’ and won a Grammy for ‘Best Engineered Album, Classical.’  Grechaninov: Passion Week is the Phoenix Chorale’s second joint-recording in a series of albums on the Chandos Record label with the Kansas City Chorale, also led by Charles Bruffy.  Two other joint-recordings have been released on Chandos Records including Eternal Rest in 2005 and Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works in 2007.  In 2004, the Phoenix Chorale became the first American choir to release a solo album on Chandos Records, one of the largest independent classical record labels in the world. The Phoenix Chorale’s next solo recording, entitled Spotless Rose, is set for release in September 2008.

“The organization has continued to evolve over the last fifty years and in the last decade, under Charles Bruffy’s gifted artistic leadership, the Chorale has expanded its artistic reach on a global scale through our definitive recordings,” said Executive Director Joel Rinsema.  “As we celebrate 50 years and look ahead to the next 50, we will continue to enrich life around the world through the transformative power of choral music.”

For more information, please visit the Choir’s website at www.phoenixchorale.org. 

The Phoenix Chorale is sponsored in part through grants and funding from Cathedral Arts, Arizona Commission on the Arts, the City of Phoenix’s Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Quail Distributing.

About the Phoenix Chorale: The Phoenix Chorale (formerly the Phoenix Bach Choir), regarded as one of the finest professional choral ensembles in America, continues to increase its national and international presence. The Chorale is dedicated to commissioning, performing, and recording new music alongside stirring presentations of traditional choral masterworks. For fifty years, the Chorale’s musical offerings have continued to inspire, entertain, and educate audiences throughout Arizona since its founding by Drs. Hal and Timona Pittman in 1958. Audiences around the globe have been treated to the sounds of the Chorale through broadcasts on National Public Radio’s Performance Today.  In 2004, the Phoenix Chorale became the first American choir to release a solo album (Shakespeare in Song) on Chandos Records, the largest independent classical record label in the world.  Two years later, the Chorale released its first joint recording with the Kansas City Chorale entitled Eternal Rest performing the music of Frank Martin, Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, René Clausen and Frank Ticheli.  In 2007, the two Chorales released a second album, Grechaninov: Passion Week, which was nominated for four Grammys® including ‘Best Classical Album’ and won a Grammy® for ‘Best Engineered Album, Classical.’  Their most recent recording, Rheinberger: Sacred Choral Works was released worldwide late 2007 on Chandos. Their next solo recording, Spotless Rose, is set for release in September 2008.  All Phoenix Chorale recordings are available for purchase at www.phoenixchorale.org.

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Media Contacts:	Jen Rogers, Director of Marketing & Communications
	480-204-0101, jen@phoenixchorale.org
	Joel Rinsema, Executive Director
	602-253-2224, joel@phoenixchorale.org