Choral Society of Pensacola, FL

The Choral Society of Pensacola's origins date to 1935, when a group of singers presented portions of Handel's Messiah at a meeting of the Pensacola Music Study Club. The organization that grew out of that occasion called itself the Pensacola Choral Society and, later, the Pensacola Oratorio Society. In the following decades, the group experienced artistic growth, expanding its repertoire to include more secular music and, in 1983, changed its name to The Choral Society of Pensacola to reflect its broadening musical horizons.

Currently, under the artistic direction of Dr. Peter Steenblik, their roster lists more than 100 volunteers of diverse ages, backgrounds, and experiences, united by a passion for singing. They are committed to the art of choral music, and have programmed significant works that immediate audiences might not otherwise experience in concert; recent examples include Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms (2022), Handel’s Messiah in its entirety (2019) and Orff’s Carmina Burana (2024). 

Without neglecting the familiar masterworks, they have expanded their repertoire to include works never performed regionally, e.g., Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass (2022); Jocelyn Hagen’s multimedia symphony The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci (2023); and most of the works on Lift Every Voice (2024), a celebration of Black composers spanning five centuries.  They also perform arrangements of pop, jazz, and musical theatre standards, as in their programs Stage and Screen and Jazz from Across the Pond (both 2022).  They have included works on concerts that require audience participation (e.g., Abbie Betinis’ round “Be Like the Bird” on their 2023 concert "Words" and Melanie DeMore's “Lead with Love” on Lift Every Voice.)

 Vision:

An inclusive community that values the choral arts.

 Mission:

To strengthen and enrich their community through a variety of engaging choral experiences