History of the Program

A large chorus performs in a European church

The LMU Choral Tradition

As we come together to rehearse we integrate musicality – musical expressiveness – into the learning process from day one of the semester. Musicality is not the "frosting on the cake" to be added once we have "learned the notes". Musicality is the "soul" of each piece we perform, the reason we want to search for deeper feeling in it, the reason that music exists.

Although choral singing was present in various forms on the campus of Loyola as early as 1927, the seed for the choral tradition that we know today actually began in 1963 when Fr. Richard Trame, S.J. became the Moderator of the Glee Club which at the time was directed by William Hollenbeck. In the course of that year Fr. Trame was instrumental in securing the services of a young Paul Salamunovich as the conductor of the Glee Club. In the fall of 1964, with the arrival of Salamunovich, the Glee Club was renamed the Men's Chorus and so began a marvelous musical journey.

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Directors

2023 - present, John Flaherty
2019 - 2023, T.J. Harper
1992 - 2019, Mary Breden
1991 - 1992, Halbert Blair
1964 - 1991, Paul Salamunovich

    • 1990 Vancouver, B.C., Pacific International Festival of Male Choirs: Men's Chorus
    • 1997 Carnegie Hall Project: Chorus of 215 current Chorus members and Chorus alumni; solo concert, Mary Breden, conductor; Fauré Requiem, Paul Salamunovich, conductor
    • 1998 Emmy nominated PBS Special Michael Crawford: Music of the Night and West Coast portion of National Tour Michael Crawford: Live in Concert, Consort Singers
    • 2000 Barbra Streisand Farewell Concert at Staple Center, Consort Singers
    • 2000 Life's Too Short to Sing Badly,Christopher Allport, director; Student Award Winning Film, Combined Choruses
    • 2004 Arrival of the Olympic Torch at Venice Beach, Combined Choruses
    • 2006 Choral Perspectives Series: Paul Salamunovich Chant and Beyond, DVD, Quaid/Schott Media Publications, Combined Choruses
    • 2007 Daniel Pearl World Music Days Concert. World Peace Ikeda Auditorium, Santa Monica, Consort Singers
    • 2010 “Passion of Italy”. Concert Tour with concerts and Masses in Venice, Lucca and Rome, Combined Choruses
    • 2012 “Musical Adventures in Austria”. Concert Tour with concerts in Munich, Salzburg, and Vienna. Combined Choruses
    • 2012 100th Jubilee of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. Orange, CA. Consort Singers
    • 2015 France Concert Tour. Concerts: L’Église de la Madeleine and L’Église St-Étienne-du-Mont (Paris), Cathédrale Saint-Louis de Versailles (Versailles), and the Normandy American Cemetery & Memorial (Omaha Beach). Combined Choruses
    • 2015 Monticello Wakes. Experimental opera by Garrett Fisher and librettist Tom Apello.  Murphy Recital Hall, Loyola Marymount University.  Fisher Ensemble and the LMU Consort Singers
    • 2017 Passion Trilogy. Staged cantata by Garrett Fisher.  Murphy Recital Hall, Loyola Marymount University.  Fisher Ensemble and the Women of the LMU Choruses
    • COMING UP! 2019 London & Paris Concert Tour

    ACDA Convention Appearances

    • 1982 Western Division, Pasadena, CA: Men's Chorus, Women's Chorus, Consort Singers
    • 1987 National, San Antonio, TX: Men's Chorus
    • 1988 Western Division, Los Angeles, CA: Women's Chorus
    • 1989 National, Louisville, KY: Women's Chorus
    • 1994 Western Student Chapter, Flagstaff, AZ: Women of the Choruses
    • 1996 Western Division, Pasadena, CA: Concert Choir
    • 2000 Western Division, Los Angeles, CA: Concert Choir

    Commissions/Premieres

    David Conte In Praise of Music
    Commissioned Work; World Premiere, 1994
    29th Annual Spring Chorale
    Loyola Marymount University
    Concert Choir

    James Mulholland That I Shall Never Look Upon Thee Again
    ACDA Commissioned Work
    West Coast Premiere, 1996
    ACDA Western Division Conference
    Pasadena, California
    Consort Singers

    Morten Lauridsen O Nata Lux
    East Coast Premiere, 1997
    Carnegie Hall, New York City
    Concert Choir

    Morten Lauridsen Ubi Caritas
    Commissioned Work; World Premiere, 1998
    Gala Christmas Concert
    Loyola Marymount University
    Combined Choirs

    Z. Randall Stroope O Rex Gloriae
    Commissioned Work; World Premiere, 2012
    47th Annual Spring Chorale
    European Premiere Germany/Austria Tour, June 2012
    Combined Choirs

    Paul Gibson Te Deum
    Commissioned Work; World Premiere, 2015
    50th Annual Spring Chorale
    European Premiere (Excerpts) France Tour, June 2015
    Combined Choirs

    Charles Anthony Silvestri Each Morning She Walks 
    Consortium Commission Opus 1; LMU Premiere, 2017
    52nd Annual Spring Chorale
    Consort Singers

    Amy Gordon, ‘08 Title TBD 
    Commissioned Work; World Premiere 2018
    Gala Christmas 
    Concert Concert Choir

    • Beethoven: Mass in C
    • Brahms: Nänie
    • Brahms: 4 Songs with 2 Horns and Harp
    • Britten: Rejoice in the Lamb
    • Conte: In Praise of Music (World Premiere)
    • Corigliano: Fern Hill
    • Delius: Songs of Farewell (#1, 2, 4)
    • Durante (Pergolesi): Magnificat
    • Duruflé: Requiem, Op.9
    • Elgar: The Music Makers
    • Fauré: Requiem
    • Finzi: Ode for St. Cecilia
    • Galuppi: Dixit Dominus
    • Gibson: Te Deum (World Premier)
    • Gjeilo: Sunrise Mass
    • Handel: Coronation Anthems
    • Handel: Utrecht Jubilate
    • Hassler: Missa Secunda
    • Haydn: Missa in Angustiis
    • Haydn Missa: Sancti Nicolai
    • Haydn: Te Deum
    • Lauridsen: Les Chansons des Roses
    • Lauridsen: Lux Aeterna
    • Mealor: Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
    • Mendelssohn: Psalm 42
    • Mozart: Mass in C, K. 317 (Coronation)
    • Mozart: Regina Coeli, K. 276
    • Mozart: Solemn Vespers of the Confessor
    • Olsson: Te Deum
    • Parry: Ode on the Nativity
    • Rutter: The Falcon
    • Rutter: Gloria
    • Rutter: Mass of the Children
    • Rutter: Requiem
    • Scarlatti: Salve Regina
    • Schubert: Mass in A Flat Major, D 678
    • Stevens: The Ballad of William Sycamore
    • Stroope: O Rex Gloriae (World Premiere)
    • Thompson: The Place of the Blest
    • Vaughan Williams: Benedicite
    • Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
    • Vaughan Williams: Toward the Unknown Region
    • Vivaldi: Beatus Vir
    • Vivaldi: Gloria
    • Vivaldi: Magnificat
    • Whitacre: 5 Hebrew Love Songs
    • Whitacre: Sainte-Chapelle