The Putnam Chorale, under the artistic direction of composer/conductor Dr. Jason Tramm, is the sole county-wide community chorus in Putnam County, NY. It has been entertaining and educating Westchester/ Putnam/Dutchess audiences since 1984 by providing high quality choral and orchestral music and academic commentary. The two-fold mission of the Chorale is to provide amateur and aspiring professional singers an opportunity to enrich their lives through choral singing and to provide the community with compelling performance experiences. The Chorale was a 2010 semi-finalist in The American Prize in Choral Performance.
The chorus is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a music director and accompanist. There is no paid administrative staff. When funding is sufficient, performances include a spectrum of choral works complete with professional orchestra and soloists. Recent diverse examples include: Handel’s complete oratorios Messiah, Judas Maccabaeus, and Sampson; W. Schuman’s Casey at the Bat; A Broadway Celebration (Arlen, Cole Porter, Sondheim); Brahms’ Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and other classics. For a complete list visit our Performance History.
Multi artist collaborations have included area youth choirs and dance ensembles.
Performance venues are typically houses of worship or schools, generating full-house audiences in recent years. Two quotes from the audience survey of Handel’s Messiah ( the complete oratorio) are informative: “We are fortunate to have choir of combined voices perform a concert of such high quality in Brewster.” And “Fantastic. What a please to see this group mature over the past decade…; Beautifully directed. Mature interpretation.”
Community Outreach
Chorale concert performances are in December and April. There have been December community Messiah sings and open summer sings, creating opportunities for the community to assemble informally to enjoy singing popular works. Additionally, smaller Chorale ensembles entertain at local nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, historical sites, etc. with holiday caroling or other seasonal choral music. Of note is the Chorale’s Winter Ensemble holiday performances at historic venues like Boscobel House and Gardens and Lyndhurst Mansion. Similarly, the more recent Summer Ensemble has been taking “Broadway Matinee” and “Poppin’ Through the Decades” around the area to audience delight. Videos of Chorale performances appear on local public access cable channels.
