About The Choir
The Riverside Choral Society has made a specialty of presenting finely tuned performances of great classical works with full orchestra and highly esteemed soloists. Since January 2025, RCS has been under the baton of Dr. John Wilson, who is also Director of Choral Activities at SUNY New Paltz. With Director Emeritus Patrick Gardner, RCS has performed major works by Beethoven, Bruckner, Brahms, Mozart, Schubert, Haydn, Britten, Pärt, Fauré, Harrison, Orff, Stravinsky, Berlioz, Shostakovich, Schnittke, Verdi, and many others at major concert halls throughout the city.
Photograph by Shay Frey
RCS has been a featured performer with the Mostly Mozart Festival, with the Kirov Orchestra with Valery Gergiev conducting at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and at the Wall-to-Wall concerts at Symphony Space, among others.
Collaborations have included:
• Mostly Mozart Festival, under Gerard Schwartz and Louis Langrée
• Symphonies by Shostakovich (Nos. 2, 3 & 13) and Mahler (No. 2) with Kirov and Rotterdam Orchestras, under Valery Gergiev
• Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms and Mendelssohn Lobgesang with Mannes College Orchestra
• Mark Morris Dance Group, at Lincoln Center and BAM under Nicholas McGegan and Jane Glover
“The Riverside Choral Society had obviously prepared the score thoroughly and sang the music with confidence and full-bodied sound. This was a sensitive and rewarding performance of Mozart's most ambitious choral work.”
-Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
“The Riverside Choral Society gave a sublime reading of the choral finale.”
-Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
Photograph by Shay Frey
Board of Directors
Josh Greenman
Delia Guazzo
Sarah K. Ivins
Alan Ravage
Janet Robusto
Julia Rundbaken
Avery Somers
Eliza Lansdale, President
Phyllis Faust, Treasurer
Kerry Fristoe, Treasurer
Lillian Redl, Secretary
William Benson
David Budd
Carl Courant