The Cornerstone Chorale

History of the Cornerstone Chorale

Photo: Regina Gradess

The Cornerstone Chorale was founded in 1990 by Tom Lloyd at the Cornerstone Center in Washington Heights. The Chorale was instituted as a performing organization for neighborhood singers. It now performs full-length concerts under its current Music Director, Richard Stout, who joined the organization in 1996. In 1998, the Cornerstone Chorale was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization, and became eligible for wider grant funding.
Since Richard Stout became Music Director, the Cornerstone Chorale has presented several exciting concerts. There have been collaborations with the Third Street Music School Settlement Chamber Orchestra in concerts of the music of J.S. Bach. One of the chorale's most special performances was of the Duruflé Requiem, performed at beautiful St. Elizabeth's Church. The Cornerstone Chorale also performed a concert of Jewish music, including Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, reaching out to members of its largely Jewish neighborhood.
The chorale has performed at the Isabella Geriatric Center, and has been featured at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, in performances broadcast to patients throughout the center. The group continues to reach out to segments of our neighborhood, bringing music which would otherwise be unavailable.
In an outreach to the Latino community during the 1999-2000 season, the chorale performed music of the German, Spanish, and New World renaissance, with period instruments, exploring many church and folkloric idioms, including a special performance at the Museum of Hispanic Society of the Americas. The Chorale hosted a community memorial concert in October 2001.
A benefit of our neighborhood is that it is rich in fine artist-singers and artist-instrumentalists. The Chorale has been fortunate to be able to collaborate with some of the finest players and singers in New York, many of whom live in our immediate area.