The Choir of Adults & Girls

It is fitting that, in a church with a distinguished tradition of choral leadership by children, the Trinity Choir of Adults and Girls has taken a prominent place alongside its brother singers in the renowned Choir of Men and Boys. The choir of Men and Girls was founded in the fall of 2003, with members auditioned from all over south-central Connecticut. That first year, girls from grades 4 through 10 formed the soprano section of the choir. The Girls of the Choir represent many towns in the greater New Haven area; church membership is not a requirement. The alto, tenor, and bass sections are made up of professional singers from the area. Recently, girls that have graduated from the choir have returned to sing alto, just as young men who have graduated from the Boys Choir have joined the adult men singing tenor and bass.

The Girls have already established a strong reputation outside the walls of Trinity Church, traveling to Boston in their first year to sing at Trinity Church, Copley Square. In the spring of 2005, they traveled to Washington to join the Men and Girls of Washington National Cathedral for services in the awe-inspiring surroundings of that great cathedral. The full Choir of Men and Girls’ February 2007 concert in the Shrine of St. Ann in Waterbury and return concert there in March 2009 were met with particular acclaim. In April 2007, the Girls joined the Boys Choir and members of the Elm City/United Girls Choir as the treble choir for Benjamin Britten’s monumental War Requiem, presented along with the Yale Philharmonia and Yale choruses at Symphony Hall in Boston and at Yale’s Woolsey Hall.

The Girls of the Choir made their first tour of England in June 2007, singing at the cathedrals of Guildford, Southwark, and Winchester. At each stop, the Girls joined the resident choir of men and girls to sing under the direction of the resident music director.

At Christmas of 2007, the Adults and Girls joined the Wallingford Symphony for their Christmas Concert in the Choate-Rosemary Hall Chapel. That same month and also one year later, they sang services of Christmas Lessons and Carols at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven. In February 2009 they joined the New Haven Chorale and the Heritage Chorale at Yale’s Woolsey Hall in a benefit concert for the music program at St. Martin de Porres Academy. In November 2009 they sang Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem in the context of a service at Christ Church in New Haven. In April 2010 the Men and Girls (along with the Trinity Men and Boys and choirs from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York and Trinity Church in Princeton, NJ) performed Handel’s Coronation Anthems and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the American Classical Orchestra (ACO). Two months later, they were prominently featured as part of the National Convention of the Association of Anglican Musicians, where their singing for a service of Choral Evensong was highly praised by many of the church musicians in attendance. In the spring of 2011, members of the Girls Choir sang in appearances with the New Haven Chorale and the ACO.

Director of Music Walden Moore is joined by Music Program Manager Rachel Segger and the Organ Scholars in training the choir and in all musical matters, and is assisted by an active parent organization in the many activities in the life of the choir. Anyone wishing audition information should contact Mrs. Segger at (203) 776-2616 or at rsegger@trinitynewhaven.org.