About NWC

Mission Statement: We serve as the orchestral chorus of choice for metro Boston. Valuing collaboration and community, we provide accomplished vocal musicians and our audiences with a richness of experience and the joy that flows from superlative performance.

New World Chorale at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade, Boston, MA

The New World Chorale (NWC) is one of the most in-demand choruses in the greater Boston area. NWC has performed major choral works with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra, the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lexington Symphony, Symphony Pro Musica, the Rhode Island Philharmonic, and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (formerly GBYSO). In May 2006, the New World Chorale was featured with the Boston Ballet in its production of Igor Stravinsky’s Les Noces at The Wang Theatre in Boston.

The New World Chorale was founded in 1999 by Holly MacEwen Krafka and John Zielinski with the mission of performing the best American choral music and the goal of performing with many of the finest orchestras in New England. NWC’s membership comprises some of the Boston area’s most experienced choral singers and soloists who have performed both locally and internationally with the world’s major orchestras.

In March 2010, the New World Chorale and the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra jointly celebrated their respective tenth anniversaries by performing both the Mozart Requiem and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in the same concert.

Other notable NWC performances include:

Tenth Anniversary Concert in October 2009, featuring a selection of pieces previously performed by NWC in concerts from 1999 to 2009
The East Coast premiere of Giya Kancheli’s Styx with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra and featuring violist Roger Tapping (December 2009)
Brahms Requiem with the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, performed at the Hatch Shell on the Charles River Esplanade (September 2009)
Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra (December 2008)
Janacek’s Glagolitic Mass with the Longwood Symphony Orchestra (December 2007)

Showcasing its versatility, the New World Chorale has performed The Music Man (2009), The Pirates of Penzance (2008), and South Pacific in Concert (2007), all with the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra. In each production, NWC provided the leads and moving choruses from its own membership.

NWC has performed world premieres encompassing a wide range of musical styles. Pieces commissioned and performed include: Opening Day, written for NWC by local composer Tom Hojnacki to texts about baseball by Bill Littlefield, host of the National Public Radio program “Only A Game”; How Sweet the Sound, an arrangement of hymns and spirituals for chorus and organ by John Zielinski; Mass by Gregory Short for chorus, percussion, and audience participation; and Infelix Ego for organ, percussion, brass quartet, and chorus, also by Mr. Zielinski.