The Arizona Masterworks Chorale
Making Music Better for Over 40 Years
Our vision is to be known as a premier performing ensemble in Arizona.
Our mission is to inspire and enrich our community through the power of choral music.
We are dedicated to delivering exceptional performances that captivate, uplift, and engage audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
With a commitment to artistic excellence, we strive to explore a diverse repertoire that spans different genres, time periods, and cultures, showcasing the beauty and versatility of choral music.
Through our passionate performances, we seek to foster a deep appreciation for the art form and create musical experiences that leave a lasting impact on our listeners.
As ambassadors of harmony and unity, we aim to promote inclusivity, collaboration, and cultural exchange among our singers and within the broader community.
By nurturing the talents of our members and providing a platform for growth, we aspire to be a catalyst for personal and artistic development, fostering a lifelong love and commitment to choral singing.
Together, we aim to create transcendent moments of musical expression, connecting hearts, minds, and souls through the shared language of music.
Meet the AMC Singers
Meet the AMC Music Staff
Meet the AMC Board of Directors
About the Arizona Masterworks Chorale
The English word Chorus comes from the Ancient Greek root verb “χορός” meaning “to express in unison another person’s words, or a particular sentiment,” as done by a group of persons: a chorus or choir. Chorale, first used in 1841, derives from Martin Luther’s translation of sacred hymns into the vernacular and refers to the songs themselves or the group of persons singing them together.
The Arizona Masterworks Chorale (AMC), founded in 1979, exists to bring the pleasure of voices joined together in song to our community through exhilarating and inspiring performances of the finest choral music. We’ll do it in a distinctive way to delight both the audiences who hear us and ourselves, the musicians who perform.
The COVID-19 pandemic suspended our rehearsals and concerts in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, giving AMC leadership an opportunity to reinvent the Chorale. We elected new directors, appointed new officers, significantly updated our back-office operations, and engaged Music Director Scott Youngs and Collaborative Pianist Olga Gorelik. We made a successful return to the stage in the 2021-2022 season with four concerts celebrating the diversity of American choral music, and performed the world premieres of two works written for AMC. In the community, we founded The Arts at Ascension artistic partnership with the Women’s Orchestra of Arizona and Ascension Lutheran Church where AMC is Chorale-in-Residence, to promote awareness and foster growth and collaboration.
In the 2022-2023 season we produced the first Arts at Ascension collaborative event, the First Annual Messiah Sing-Along. We hired professional section leaders to support choristers’ artistic development and began educational outreach with the Global Academy of Phoenix (GAP). With the GAP Treble Choir, we performed the world premiere of Whispering Hope, commissioned by the Chorale with support from a grant from the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. Other concerts featured the American premieres of several neglected choral and organ works, and a journey through the world of contemporary Baltic choral music.
We’ve defined and published a strategic plan that we believe will carry us forward through 2025. We’ll move into new artistic territory, with a greater level of musical challenge and virtuosity – and a higher level of satisfaction and reward – than we’ve ever had. AMC will be a joint effort of all our artists, staff, board, and volunteers, working together in an atmosphere of community, congeniality, and professionalism, delivering the finest possible musical experience to our patrons, supporters, and the community in which we live and work.
The Arizona Masterworks Chorale, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit Arizona corporation.