Interesting Facts About The Chorale

The Chorale was founded in 1948.  This was during the time that many civic choruses and groups such as Fred Warring and the Pennsylvanians, were springing up around our country.  In Bessemer, Alabama there was a young people’s choir at South Highland Baptist Church. They were under the direction of Earl N. Clark.  This choir combined with a high school choir at McAdory High School in McCalla, Alabama, under the direction of Mr. Clark’s wife, Frances.  Their purpose was to learn challenging music and to perform it to the best of their ability.

That summer they raised money by performing South Pacific. The money raised took this group to Ridgecrest Baptist Assembly in Black Mountain, North Carolina, for music week.  At this time there was not a young people’s choir at Ridgecrest. This meant the group from Bessemer had to join the adult choir. That, as it turned out, was a blessing.   

At Ridgecrest that summer the clinician was Warren Angel, who went on to become the Dean of Fine Arts at Oklahoma Baptist University.  Warren Angel was a highly sought after clinician, a wonderful musician. Under his direction the choir at Ridgecrest rehearsed and sang Handel’s MESSIAH.

The group from Bessemer came home with the dream of singing MESSIAH for the church and community. They practiced at church, at school and in the homes of the members three and four nights a week.  If the home had no instrument, one of the members brought a pump organ and parts were rehearsed. The odds were against them, but they didn’t know it. When Christmas came in 1948, this group did perform the Christmas portion of MESSIAH, by Handel. 

This wonderful performance was followed by a desire to continue to meet as a group and continue to grow. The vision for the group allowed other church choirs to join.  The name of the group became the Bessemer Civic Chorale. Soon the group was performing not only the Christmas portion of MESSIAH but the entire work.  The accompaniment grew from the organ in the church to the Cadek String Quartet at the University of Alabama and later the Alabama Symphony. 

 The mission of the group was to enrich the lives of others through the presentation of choral music of the masters, and to allow all of those with a desire to participate in such a venture to join. The Chorale did not stop with MESSIAH. It has also performed others major works such as Brahms' Requiem, Bach's St Matthew Passion and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as operettas by Gilbert and Sullivan and other lighter works.

As the ACC has grown and continued to be a viable organization in our community, the name changed to more suitable reflect the people it served. The ACC has members from around our state and throughout Jefferson and Shelby Counties. The 100 voice chorus has members from over fifty churches and choirs from around the state.

The Chorale has performed around our state and for National Conventions.  It is available for small events at clubs, businesses and other venues.  Audiences include visitors from many southeastern states.  They have come at times from New York, Missouri, Portugal, Bolivia, Africa, Russia and The Netherlands.

Many Chorale members have started their musical careers with the Chorale.  These members have gone on to careers as church choir directors, accompanists, professors of music and soloists in the communities in which they reside. The Chorale continues today as an organization dedicated to bringing cultural arts to the area and enriching the lives of those who sing and those that hear the group perform...