Ensemble Director: Dr. Lisa Billingham
The University Chorale, a choir of 80-100 singers, performs a wide variety of music each semester ranging from classical styles to multi-cultural works and popular music. This ensemble is open to music majors and non-majors by audition. The University Chorale is comprised of students from over twenty-five majors across campus. Each semester, the Chorale presents featured concerts alone and with other university ensembles, including the Mason Symphony Orchestra. The University Chorale has been a featured choir at the Virginia Music Educators Conference, and performs a popular Broadway Showcase each spring semester to sold out audiences. The Broadway Showcase is a popular feature of the choral program at George Mason University each spring semester. Students assist with the design, coaching, and creating choreography for the production.
All choruses present a regular concert series and often collaborate with other George Mason performing ensembles from the Schools of Music, Dance, and Theater. The University Chorale has performed at numerous University events including the Inauguration of President Cabrera and for a special visit by President Barack Obama. Alumni of the University Chorale are leaders in the Northern Virginia community and beyond in many diverse fields including teaching, performing and government positions.
In addition to performing on campus in the Center for the Arts, choral groups have presented concerts throughout the Greater Washington area. Members of the University Chorale notably had the opportunity to perform at the famed Carnegie Hall in New York City, on May 28, 2019 under Dr. Billingham’s direction.
George Mason music alumnus and Prince William County music teacher, Jacob Lash, traveled to London in June 2022, along with 30 of his friends and colleagues from the Gainesville Community Choir (GCC). Mr. Lash's final project for his Masters in Conducting at Mason consisted of planning and preparing 100 musicians for an end-of-year concert featuring Dan Forrest's major work, Requiem for the Living. Mr. Lash was invited by James Meaders DMA, founder and director of Vox Anima London, a highly acclaimed choral organization which hosts an international choral festival every summer. Mr. Lash and the GCC joined choirs from Barcelona, Denver, the UK, and beyond, for a weekend of music making in London's Southwark Cathedral, with Dan Forrest in residence.