In 1924, Austrian émigré and musician Margarete Dessoff (1874-1944) and pianist Angela Diller (1877-1968), founder of the Diller-Quaile School of Music, established the Adesdi Chorus of Women's Voices. In 1928, Dessoff created the mixed voice A Cappella Singers of New York. She united these choirs in 1930 as the Dessoff Choirs, and officially incorporated them into a membership organization in 1934. Dessoff was one of the first women to conduct concerts at the major concert venues of New York City, such as Carnegie Hall and Town Hall; she is also notable for being one of the first women to conduct a prominent mixed voice ensemble and did so to wide critical acclaim.
According to early bylaws, Dessoff founded the choirs to give talented amateurs a forum to sing in a high quality ensemble, and to present to the public the works of lesser known composers. She was an pioneering champion of Medieval and Renaissance music, and her choirs' performances of Josquin des Pres, Guillaume de Machaut, and Claudio Monteverdi, among others, helped pave the way for the early music revivals of the 1950s and 1960s. Paul Boepple, Dessoff's successor who served as conductor from 1936 to 1968, was a proponent of both early music and many contemporary composers, such as Judith and Nicolas de Flue, Arthur Honegger, Frank Martin, and George Perle. Under Boepple, the ensemble made thirteen recordings for various record companies, including Fantasy, Vanguard, and Vox. Subsequent conductors, later titled music directors, include Thomas Sokol (1969-1973), Michael Hammond (1973-1983), Amy Kaiser (1983-1995), Kent Tritle (1996-2004), James Bagwell (2005-2010), and currently Chris Shepard (2010-present). The ensemble primarily performs in the New York City region, and frequently gives concerts at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, and other churches and concert halls in the area.
The Dessoff Choirs are governed by a board of directors and managed by a small professional staff and various elected officers. The group is comprised of two types of members: "singing members" who perform in concerts and pay annual dues, and "contributing members" (also called "Dessoff associates") who donate financially to the choir.
From the guide to the Dessoff Choirs records, 1924-2008, (The New York Public Library. Music Division.)
