Columbia Choral Society

History

The Columbia Choral Society's mission is to stimulate and broaden community engagement in music through the performance of classical choral music.

The Columbia Choral Society is a mixed (SATB), auditioned choir performing the great choral masterpieces. Established in 1930, we have the distinction of being the longest-performing community choir in South Carolina and are currently celebrating our 95th year. We have performed with a long list of accomplished organizations, including the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra; the Charleston, Long Bay, and University of South Carolina Symphony Orchestras; the Carolina Master Chorale; the Charleston Symphony Chorus; the Bulgarian National Chorus; the West Yorkshire (England) Chorus; the Sandlapper Singers; the Palmetto Mastersingers; the University of South Carolina Concert Choir and University Chorus; and the Allen University Concert Choir.

We celebrate young vocal artists with our Guthrie Darr Young Artist Scholarship Program each year. We are led by a Board of chorus and community members, as well as our Artistic Director, Dr. Elizabeth M. Mears.
Community outreach has included participation in the Messiah Sing-a-long at Washington Street United Methodist Church, joint performances with local high schools, caroling for Historic Columbia's Holiday Tour of Homes, and Soda City.

Guthrie Darr Young Artist Scholarship Program

The Guthrie Darr Young Artist Scholarship is funded, in part, by contributions through the Midlands Gives Program. 

Testimonials

Pat B. says "I sing because it gives me joy and feeds my soul! I sing with CCS because I enjoy learning and singing the Masters' great compositions, and some exceptional music by today's contemporary composers. As I look around our group I see all ages from all walks of life. The one common denominator is that we all love singing good music!"