When I first met with Joseph Polisi about forming the Juilliard Choral Union two years ago, he told me that he would like to program Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, the “Resurrection” Symphony. I told him that I would need a 150-member chorus before his dream could become a reality. After a very successful inaugural year, with a chorus numbering 80 singers, I was determined to make this happen during the 2001-02 season and increase the membership roster.

Judith Clurman. (Photo by Christian Steiner)

After speaking with a few key members of the chorus last year, I let President Polisi know we had the resources to program this glorious symphony. With the able assistance of chorus members David Ezer, Douglas Riccardi, and Frank Johnston, the Choral Union organized a national publicity campaign. David, Douglas, Frank, and I worked together under the guidance of Juilliard’s Communications Office director, Janet Kessin. We advertised on the Internet and included a flyer in each Juilliard student’s registration packet in September. The chorus was also listed in the Juilliard Evening Division catalog.

I spent the summer auditioning very fine singers. They came from all over the country. Many of the new members (numbering about 80) graduated with liberal arts, music, law, and medical and/or business degrees from the finest universities in the country. They sang art songs, arias, and musical theater ballads, and, for the most part, they sight-read very well. We were scheduled to begin rehearsing on September 12. (That rehearsal was canceled because of the September 11 tragedy.)

		From Carols to Carnegie Hall With the Choral Union

More than 150 people showed up to the first rehearsal on September 17, including 15 Juilliard students and faculty members. I knew that a few of the members (old and new) worked at the World Trade Center, and I was relieved to see them walk through the door. I did not have the emotional stamina to conduct the “Resurrection Symphony” at this rehearsal. Instead, I decided to work on “America the Beautiful,” and after about an hour of greeting one another and singing together, the chorus members walked over to the firehouse on Amsterdam Avenue and sang this powerful hymn.

Since that time, we have rehearsed the Mahler and holiday carols for our various December performances. Members of the Choral Union also performed at the memorial at ground zero on October 28. When the chorus and orchestra assemble on the stage of Carnegie Hall on December 10, we will fulfill President Polisi’s wish. Yet none of us could have foreseen the profound resonance of the message of the “Resurrection” Symphony with the spiritual need of our time. We will all be remembering the victims of September 11 as the chorus and soloists sing these words of consolation and hope.

Judith Clurman, a faculty member since 1989, is the school’s director of choral activities and conductor of the Juilliard Choral Union.