The Chorale strives to ensure a growing and vibrant arts culture through participation, outreach, education and advocacy.
Welcome to Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra! We are a community of singers dedicated to bringing choral music to southern New England. Become part of our community or consider supporting us with a donation.
A Message from the Music Director
“Why choral music? Because it allows this communion of people that dignifies their relationship to one another, as well as to what mankind might be.” – Robert Shaw
It is my pleasure to introduce you to the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, a wonderful organization and vital part of the state’s thriving arts community. RICCO has a distinguished reputation for presenting the great choral-orchestral masterworks that we know and love. It is my goal to continue this tradition, while bringing a fresh perspective to these classics, and presenting new works that in their own right should receive equal acclaim. We look forward to having you join us for this meaningful journey.
Dr. Josuha W. Rohde
Music Director
New Singers Welcome!
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"There is a beauty to being able to use one's voice to produce music that composers use their imaginations to construct. Doing that with others in an ensemble of voices is an inspiration at many levels, not least for my soul and with any good luck the souls of fellow singers and of audience members for whom it is an honor to perform. "
Stephen Nelson
Tenor
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"Almost everybody loves listening to music. Singing together can benefit those who love to do it still more deeply. Civic Chorale gives this opportunity especially richly. We work with, study and perform some of the most wonderful things humans have created. We feed our minds and souls."
Martin Gardiner
Bass
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"Singing is euphoria - the joy of making beautiful music, the warmth of being with friends, the YAY! of accomplishment, the wonder of being in the middle of all that sound!!"
Ellen Conner
Soprano
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"What makes me come every Wednesday night to sing with my choristers is that feeling of bond and unity with them. One voice, one heart working all together week by week for the sake of making great music and sharing it with others. "
Hazar Balissi
Soprano
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"After college ended, I needed to find a new way to express my love for music. I went to one of the RICCO Winter Concerts and was blown away. I keep coming back because not only do I love to sing, but you can feel the mutual love for music during rehearsals and performances."
Zach Krase
Tenor
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"My love for making beautiful music with beautiful talented people. There is no greater feeling for me than to sing and perform concerts to audiences. If for only that 2-hour concert, you captivated your audience; they feel joy and hope and peace. You have given them the gift of music. And for those 2-hours, all is well in the world"
Joanne Medbery
Alto
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"RICCO is unique not only in our immediate area but much more broadly. It allows singers from all walks of life to prepare and perform both classic and new musical competitions at a very high level with a first-rate musical director and wonderful soloists and instrumentalists."
Albert Meyer
Bass
“What keeps you coming back
to sing with the Chorale?”
"The sheer joy of creating music keeps me coming back. I may come to rehearsal worn out by the day and wondering how I can have the energy to sing, but then the contagious enthusiasm of Dr. Rhode and being able to sing in this wonderful community energizes me so that I'm disappointed when I leave."
Mary Tafuri Ross
Soprano
Consider Donating to Support our Mission
Funding provided in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and private funders. This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through the Rhode Island Culture, Humanities, and Arts Recovery Grant (RI CHARG) program. This program was made possible thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts via funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
