About Us

Charles Bruffy with Phoenix Chorale by Tim TrumblecezThe Grammy Award-winning Phoenix Chorale, in residence at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Phoenix, is regarded as one of the finest professional choral ensembles in America.  The 27-voice chorus, under the direction of Artistic Director Charles Bruffy, is equally dedicated to the creation and performance of new music, which it intermingles with more traditional concert literature.

Audiences around the world have been treated to the sounds of the Chorale through live performances across the United States and in Canada, and in live broadcasts and recordings on radio stations across the globe.

In March 2009, the Phoenix Chorale made their New York debut with their sister organization, the Kansas City Chorale, at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.  The New York Times referred to the Chorales’ “…refined sound and elegant phrasing…” with “vivid intensity…” and the performance had a “…buoyant pulse and energetic finesse.”

In 2004, the Phoenix Chorale became the first North American choir to release an album on Chandos Records, one of the largest independent classical record labels in the world.  Since then, four more recordings have been made on the Chandos label, including a three disc series of joint-recordings with the Kansas City Chorale and their newest album, a solo disc titled Spotless Rose.  Three of the albums have received a total of eight Grammy Award nominations and two Grammy Award wins including “Best Small Ensemble Performance” and “Best Engineered Album, Classical.”

Originally called the Bach & Madrigal Society of Phoenix, the Phoenix Chorale was founded in 1958 as a small study group in the living room of Drs. Hal & Timona Pittman.  At that time, the group focused on the music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.  Most recently, the Phoenix Chorale was known as the Phoenix Bach Choir, a name the group performed under for nearly twenty years.

In its fifty-year history, the Phoenix Chorale’s conductors have included Millicent Wesley, Wallace Hornibrook, Dan Durand, Vance George, Anders Öhrwall, Jon Washburn, and Charles Bruffy.