History of The Boston Cecilia

The Boston Cecilia stands among America's oldest and finest performing arts organizations. Under the leadership of Donald Teeters, Cecilia has an established reputation for its period-instrument performances of baroque music, especially the oratorios of Handel and works of Bach.

It all began in 1876 when B.J. Lang founded The Cecilia Society. A man of great force of personality, Lang 's boldness set the tone for what Cecilia was to become. He had a passion for "firsts," and presented the Boston premieres of 105 works that have now become standard choral repertoire, including perennial favorites like Bach's Mass in B Minor and Brahms' Ein deutches Requiem.

During the first half of 1900s, Cecilia grew into a superior chorus that took the stage at key points in Boston's musical history. Cecilia was there at the dedication and Symphony Hall, singing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (another Boston first). It was Cecilia that provided the choral portion of his Ninth Symphony at the dedication of the Tanglewood Shed. The Cecilia Society, under the direction of Arthur Fiedler, served as the resident chorus of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for 16 years. And Cecilia was the choice of Isabella Stewart Gardner to help celebrate the opening of her now beloved museum. In subsequent years the group had the great privilege of working under such celebrated conductor/composers as Igor Stravinsky and Antonin Dvoràk.

In 1968, Donald Teeters took the baton and began his pioneering work in the American movement toward period-instrument performances. Under his leadership, Cecilia established its reputation as Boston's foremost performer and interpreter of Handel, with critically acclaimed productions of 18 of his oratorios. At the same time, Teeters has continued the tradition of performing new works, presenting world premieres of contemporary composers including Daniel Pinkham, Robert Sirota, Scott Wheeler, James Woodman, and others. Teeters and Cecilia have also gained recognition as leaders in the interpretation and performance of music in the English choral tradition, as demonstrated by stellar productions of works by Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar.

Today, Cecilia remains among Boston's premier performing entities. Cecilia has been acknowledged as consistently presenting programs with an uncommon depth of artistic understanding within a context of excellence and innovation.