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ABOUT THE
CHORALE
The Robert Dale Chorale with Music Director, Dr. Steven Thomas
The Robert Dale Chorale, one of Northeast Pennsylvania’s
premiere musical organizations, was founded in 1978 by
Robert Dale Herrema. For the past thirty years the Chorale
has served the region with choral performances of the
highest quality. The Chorale has also been associated with
two long-standing local traditions: the annual Messiah
Sing-Along and the annual NEPA Bach Festival.
The Messiah Sing-Along was begun in 1984 as a joint
project between the Chorale and WVIA-FM. The public was
invited to join with the Chorale and a professional
orchestra to perform Handel’s Messiah, one of the great
masterworks of choral music. Soloists from the Chorale sang
the solo movements, and the audience sang along with Handel’s
great choruses. WVIA-FM recorded the performance and
broadcast it on Christmas Eve. The whole event proved so
popular that the Chorale and WVIA-FM have teamed up every
year since to continue the tradition.
In 1985 the Chorale presented a performance of J. S. Bach’s
B Minor Mass in celebration of Bach’s 300th birthday.
Inspired by the success of this performance, the Chorale
decided the following season to expand what had been an
annual Bach concert into a full-blown Bach Festival. The
first NEPA Bach Festival, held in March 1986 just before
Bach’s 301st birthday, featured not only a performance of
choral works by Bach, but also a concert of his chamber
music and another of his organ works. This event, too, was
so successful that it has continued in its three-concert
format up to the present day.
In addition to these two traditions, the Chorale’s
concert seasons have included a fall concert, a Christmas
concert, and often a Pops concert as well. These programs
have run the gamut, with choral music of all types, periods
and genres, from medieval Gregorian chant to newly
commissioned works. The Chorale also sponsors an annual
Pasta Dinner fundraiser at which the singers both serve up
pasta and entertain the diners.
In 2004, the Chorale found itself at a crossroads.
Founding music director Robert Dale Herrema had announced
his intention to retire, and the Chorale made the decision
to continue with a new director. After an intensive search
process, the Chorale hired Dr. Steven Thomas, Director of
Choral Activities at Wilkes University, to succeed Mr.
Herrema.
Under Dr. Thomas’ musical leadership, the Chorale has
continued the tradition of choral excellence established by
Mr. Herrema. Dr. Thomas has built a reputation for creative
programming, often using a unifying theme as a common thread
to bind together an intriguing variety of music. He has also
programmed a series of Christmas “journeys,” exploring
the musical traditions of Eastern Europe, Spain and Central
America, and the British Isles. The Chorale made their first
CD recording of this last program, released in 2006 as
Christmas in the British Isles. The continued growth and
success of the Chorale has begun to attract attention from
outside the region, most notably by an invitation to perform
in Philadelphia at the 2010 Eastern Division Conference of
the American Choral Directors Association.
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