The Choral Society of Pensacola, a staple in the arts community, exemplifies the city’s long history of support of the fine arts. Who were the men and women pursuing excellence in choral performance in a small southern town on the gulf coast of Florida? How did national and world events influence the culture of social organizations of this town? The story of the people who created and sustained the Choral Society of Pensacola enlightens our view of how and why this expression of music, passionately supported then, continues today. Their story also adds to our understanding of how the Pensacola community changed over time as women found increased status and power through social organizations. Community organizations revealed how a society reacted to the repercussions of world events such as war, and natural disaster. A glimpse at the leaders involved in the early development of a choral society in Pensacola provides a microcosmic perspective of how organized community "societies" influenced and defined local culture.

Choral music, as generally performed in the concert halls of today, had its origins in fifteenth century Europe and is one the oldest genres of music literature, established almost a century before opera evolved. Primarily sacred, and produced by countless composers, the choral compositions, often too large to include in church services, took place outside the church venue. Lavish and architecturally notable halls were built for the performances of large choirs. By the nineteenth century, choral societies emerged as an integral component of communities, particularly within the industrial communities and large cities throughout Europe. Austria and Britain supported numerous choral societies while in America, William Billings of Stoughton, Massachusetts formed the Stoughton Musical Society, the oldest continuous musical organization in existence in the United States.

The Handel and Haydn Society was established in Boston in 1815. Choral organizations founded in New York in 1831 organized for the same purpose as the 1935 Pensacola choral group, to perform Handel’s Messiah for Christmas. By the early 1900s, choral singing and music were included in school curriculums. By 1930 choral performances in schools and communities continued and flourished uninterrupted through World War II. Pensacola’s encounter with choral music and performance began near the end of the nineteenth century and influenced cultural awareness for over a hundred years.

Although 1935 is the recognized and celebrated date of the inception of the current Choral Society of Pensacola, an article buried in the Daily News, the Pensacola afternoon paper, tells of an earlier attempt to form a local civic singing organization. A long and flowery newspaper account of an 1896 Pensacola Choral Society performance provided by a writer of the Daily News, revealed one of many existing social organizations formed either for entertainment or to benefit a community project.

The same week the Choral Society advertised their performance debut, the "ladies of Christ Church Guild" placed an ad describing an Easter program at the opera house on Easter Monday night. The more affluent members of Pensacola society were the principal patrons and beneficiaries of art performance in Pensacola. Many of them performed in this Christ Church production; some of the names are easily recognized in Pensacola history: Chipley, Milligan, Wright, Tate, Hyer, and Baars. This particular Easter group performed seventeenth century ‘Minuet de la Cour’ in period dress. Local musicians performed their own compositions, such as Mr. Edwin Northup’s performance of his "Te Deum" given at St.. Katherine’s on April 5, 1896. Although most events took place in churches, some were in music halls, theaters, or a hotel ballroom.

Pensacola maintained a full cultural calendar. "Societies" not only provided entertainment, but also brought arts education to the community. Music Study Clubs were prominent in many cities. Some societies offered respite for the poor, who were not supported by government programs. Men’s societies differed from those organized by women. Less geared to education and edification of the community, they often focused on smoking, games, fishing, yachting, or clubs connected to employment, such as the Woodsmen of the World, or the Concatenated Order of the Hoo-Hoos established in 1892. Pensacola’s African American community also maintained social organizations, as did other ethnic and cultural groups. The 1896 Daily News advertised citizens meeting dates of other ethnic groups but always distinguished their race in order to prevent confusion with white gatherings. One such ad read, "Colored Knights of Labor re-elected Isom Moore as Master workman." Most clubs or societies were separated by gender with some exceptions; the Terppsichorean Social Club held dances at Clutter’s musical hall, twenty-five cents, ladies free.

The April 1896 Choral Society performance differed in some aspects from other social or arts events. Presented by elite women of the community, the program benefited "Local Charities Irrespective of Creed." Women managed most aspects of the performance. Tickets sold for fifty cents, and could be purchased at ". . .the First National and Citizens National Banks and at various stores. Ladies interested in the different charities, of all creeds, are requested to call at the banks for tickets to assist in their distribution." The news article written after the performance noted, "the performance was for charitable purposes, the proceeds to be dispensed indiscriminately with respect to creed, and the returns were doubtless of handsome proportions." Further reading of the Daily News clarified why today’s Choral Society of Pensacola claims its inception in 1935, and not 1896.

The first week of July 1896 the Daily News contained daily announcements of the upcoming July 7th performance of the Pensacola Choral Society. The community clamored for a repeat of the successful Easter performance and the Pensacola Choral Society prepared to comply:

The managers of the Pensacola Choral Society are receiving numerous letters from competent musical critics congratulating them upon having secured Mr. Burbank to sing the baritone music of Haydn’s Creation, at their concert, July 7th, as it is said his voice is grand in the rendition of those beautiful portions of the music.

However, as described in the Daily News on July 7, 1896 the "Cedar Key Hurricane" caused severe weather damage in Pensacola. For several days, the paper described swamped and demolished ships, electrical, telegraph, and telephone service interrupted, and homes without roofs and chimneys. The African American community lost their church and blocks of "shanties" simply disappeared. Streetcar traffic was suspended, bridges collapsed, and transportation stood at a standstill, including special trains procured from the Terminal Company to deliver patrons to the concert.

The evidence that the show did not go on, appeared in the July 9, 1896 Daily News: "Mr. S. M. Burbank and Miss Lucia Nola left on the noon train yesterday, the former for his home Atlanta and the latter to her home in Mobile. The public regrets that it was deprived of hearing these two distinguished singers in the Choral Society’s concert."

Did the society attempt to reorganize again before 1935? A photo caption beneath a group of thirteen women in formal white dresses and seven men in black suits and ties reads "Pensacola Vocal Society 1915." Pensacola valued the addition of an organized civic choral organization to their community, and continued attempts to form one. A series of fortuitous events over time finally provided the elements that produced an enduring community chorus.

Mrs. John Boschen (1901-1994), a member of the Pensacola Music Study Club, founded in 1911, wanted to provide a portion of Handel’s Messiah for the club’s 1935 Christmas program. Mr. Edwin Northup (1883-1940), choir director of Christ Episcopal Church, agreed to serve as director for the performance. Singers, recruited from church choirs and members of the Music Study Club, included Mr. and Mrs. Boschen who were soloists for the first Messiah performance. This same untitled group of singers would be later recognized as the Pensacola Choral Society (1940-1945), the Pensacola Oratorio Society (1946-1983), and ultimately, the Choral Society of Pensacola (1983-2007). However, between 1935 and 1940 the group performed "the "Messiah", Under the Auspices of the Music Study Club" and did not have a name. The first performance occurred at the First Methodist Church in Pensacola, on Monday December 16, 1935 at 8:00 p.m. and every Christmas season thereafter until 1940.

The well-attended 1935 performance of Handel’s Messiah garnered lavish praise in the local newspaper and launched the performance of the Messiah as a Pensacola tradition. Edwin Northup directed the Messiah every Christmas until his death in 1940 when John Boschen took up the baton. During this time, the organization separated from the Music Study Club and formed the Pensacola Choral Society.

After 1940, Mrs. Boschen provided organ accompaniment for the chorus, along with Leonard Gay, an accomplished pianist whose credits included performances with the Minneapolis and Chicago Symphonies. Gay, a popular piano teacher, also produced Pensacola’s first opera, Hansel and Gretel in 1941. Increased membership in the choral society resulted in a move to the larger First Baptist Church when the group of volunteer singers outgrew the Christ Church choir loft. Throughout World War II the singing organization, the Pensacola Oratorio Society, continued to grow, as it recruited singers from military personnel and their families.

The repertoire expanded as the membership grew. Archived programs revealed performances of Stainer’s Crucifixion, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Gaul’s Holy City, and Maunder’s Olivet de Calvary. A Pensacola News Journal article boasted, "Small American cities which have for generations been culturally overshadowed by Italians and Bavarian communities, need gaze no longer enviously overseas. With Pensacola, they may take heart for America’s musical maturity from Tuesday nights thrilling and memorable "Elijah." The Messiah, however, remained the community favorite.

Rehearsals moved to St.. Mark’s Methodist Church in the mid 1950s. In 1957 the choral experience, enhanced by the addition of a string ensemble, marked the growth of the organization and the sophistication of the audience. In 1960 the Pensacola Oratorio Society, under the management of future Florida governor Reubin Askew, formed a board of directors and adopted by-laws. Eventually the singing organization would perform twice in Carnegie Hall in New York City, and in a choral competition in Beijing, China; however, its first out of town performance was in De Funiak Springs, Florida in 1960 in celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary performance of Messiah.

When Mr. and Mrs. Boschen retired in 1961, the choral legacy continued under the direction of Dr. John Venettozzi and Sidney Kennedy (1962-1963), Chester T. O’Bannon (1964-1970), William Clarke (1971-1994), Paul McGahie (1994-1998), and the current maestro, Xiaolun Chen (1998 - ). A successful enterprise requires strong leadership; to endure over time it requires inspired leadership. The present day arts milieu in Pensacola suggests the musicians of the early and mid twentieth century fit the latter category.

This small coastal city today is the home of a large choral organization, and "one of the state’s oldest choral societies," according to a 1988 Pensacola News Journal article. The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park first performed in 1935, the same year as the Pensacola choral group, and still performs today. Other prominent and continuous organizations include the Sarasota Choral Society, founded in 1944, the Choral Society of the Palm Beaches, founded in 1962, the Lakeland Choral Society, first organized in 1967, and the Civic Chorale of Greater Miami, founded in 1970.

What was the common denominator in the founders and leaders of these organizations? Clearly all were formally educated, some from prominent and wealthy families as were the early proponents of music in Pensacola. There is another common factor, with the exception of the Civic Chorale Miami founded by Dr. Lee Kjelson, women were the driving force behind the formation of these organizations, even in 1935.

Women were largely responsible for pushing the agenda for arts appreciation and performance in most communities; however, men, almost without exception, directed the orchestral and choral performances. A 1936 Pensacola Journal article promoting membership in the Music Study Club described the diversity of the group:

"Regarded as one of the more conservative clubs of the city, until recent years its programs have been largely confined to its membership, composed of women, and to occasional guest programs." [Beneath this statement, in bold letters: ]

Men Admitted. "Last year, however, men were admitted to membership in the club. Speaking of this, Mrs. Kelley said: "Men have shown an unusual interest in our programs and this has encouraged us to ask them into the membership of the club. Also, this interest of the men has encouraged us to give attention to night meetings.""

In 1919, eight years before the Music Study Club was organized, the United States Senate passed the Nineteenth Amendment (ratified in 1920), a landmark year for women’s rights. By 1936, the women’s vote caused men to pay more attention to women’s pursuits and the additional power they wielded due to large memberships in their social organizations. A 1936 newspaper article printed the name of each member of the Music Study Club, ninety-two women and three men. The women of Pensacola knew how to organize.

The marriage of two musicians increased the collaboration of talent and entrepreneurial spirit and therefore the cultural opportunities for the community, often creating ambitious music programs. Edwin and Louise Schmidt Northup, both trained musicians, assisted in the founding of the Pensacola Philharmonic Orchestra in 1926. In the 1930s Mrs. Northup served on the Pensacola Music Commission that promoted music education in the community and schools. Women married to men of the same profession in the early twentieth century were afforded more autonomy and respect than single women, as well as a more stable financial base.

John and Minnie Leah Nobles Boschen, frequently mentioned in the local newspapers’ art and society column, represented the community of well respected musicians in Pensacola. Professionally trained in music, they arrived in Pensacola in 1933. Mrs. Boschen taught voice and piano in her home studio located at 1216 East Mallory St.., a socially acceptable career for women of the 1930s.

Mrs. John Boschen, recognized as the founder of the Choral Society of Pensacola in programs, brochures, advertisements, and newspaper articles, boasted a musical education at the Conservatory of Cincinnati. Her first and maiden names did not surface immediately in the musty files of the Music Study Club; however, in a reference to Mrs. Boschen in a 1960 recording crediting her preparation of the chorus, the author used ‘Minnie Leah Boschen.’ The name "Minnie Leah Nobles" also appeared in stacks of personal thank you notes from an appreciative audience of performances, and numerous voice and keyboard students.

Minnie Leah Nobles, born in Pensacola, Florida February 27, 1901, was a music graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and was affiliated with the Lincoln School of Music at Columbia University in New York. For twenty-six years Mrs. Boschen provided organ accompaniment and alto solo performances, as well as coached soloists for the Oratorio Society. In addition, for almost fifty years she taught voice and piano, presenting recitals of innumerable students. Mrs. Boschen organized the first Messiah performance with Edwin Saunders Van Renssalear Northup (1873 -1940) directing the chorus and instrumentalists.

Edwin Northup revealed his affinity for music at an early age. An article in the 1940 Pensacola News Journal described Edwin’s symphony debut in 1885:

"On that night 12 year old Edwin S. Northup, son of the sea captain who lived in the big house at the corner of Spring and Gregory, stilled the shaking of his nervous knees, lifted his violin to his chin and played first violin in Prof. Maximillian Weinstein’s "Grand Orchestra."

A note found in a folder of Music Study Club manuscripts dated November 8, 1940, also credits Edwin Northup as a first founder of the chorus. The note states "The Music Study Club appointed a committee to create the Pensacola Choral Society [in 1935] in accordance with plans expressed by Mr. E. S. Northup regarding the future of choral work in Pensacola, and in memory of him as the prime mover in fostering choral music." Edwin Saunders Northup, son of a prominent Pensacola family, offered his unique contributions to the future of music in Pensacola.

Edwin’s mother, Harriet Northup, suffering a chronic illness, sent him to his grandparents in New England. Edwin remained in New York and studied at St.. Paul’s School in Long Island, and later graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was working as an engineer in Albany, New York when his father, Captain William H. Northup, died in 1925. Edwin and his wife Louise, returned to Pensacola and moved into the Northup family home with their sons Eugene and William. Aldrich, a third son, arrived the following year.

In addition to the gatherings of musicians in his home, Edwin directed the Christ Episcopal Church choir. Buried in the family plot in St.. John’s Cemetery, Edwin Northup died in 1940. Aldrich Northup joined the Pensacola Choral Society when he was fifteen years old, continuing the family’s musical legacy. For many years Aldrich frequently performed as tenor soloist for the choral organization.

Although recognized as the first director of the Music Study Club’s annual Messiah performance, Edwin Northup is better known in Pensacola for his role in the formation of the Pensacola Symphony. In her book We Will Have Music, The Story of The Greater Pensacola Symphony Orchestra, Elizabeth D. Vickers portrayed the widespread custom of informal gatherings of musicians for their own entertainment, practiced as well in Pensacola. Friends met weekly to play, and as the group grew too large for the Northup’s home, they eventually moved out and on to form Pensacola’s symphony orchestra. John Boschen took over conducting the chorus when Edwin Northup died in 1940 and continued until his retirement in 1961.

On August 30, 1931, Minnie Leah Nobles married John Henry Boschen (1893-1979). John Boschen was a native of New York City, ". . . where his training in music began at an early age and culminated in solo and conducting work in leading New York churches and in concert engagements both in New York and throughout the country." Boschen sang with the New York Oratorio Society and performed as a bass soloist in New York City’s St.. Thomas Episcopal Church, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian, Holy Trinity, Church of the Advent, and St.. John Cathedral in Brooklyn. He also toured with the opera as a bass soloist in Hansel and Gretel, and Merry Wives of Windsor. He wrote the anthem "My Country and My Home," in 1917 while serving as choral director at World War I induction centers in New York.

The Boschen’s moved to Pensacola in 1933. In 1940, The Pensacola Journal announced the election of John Boschen as conductor of the Pensacola Choral Society. Mr. Boschen , second director of the Pensacola Choral Society, held the position for the next twenty-one years. He also served the community as manager of the U.S. Employment Service until 1948, and then with the Escambia County Board of Public Instruction. WCOA’s monthly broadcasts of radio plays by the Pensacola Little Theater, such as "The Life of Ludwig Von Beethoven" in December 1946 and 1947, frequently featured John Boschen. He also appeared in Little Theater stage productions, winning an award from the Pilot Club for his performance as "Papa" in the play "I Remember Mama." In between these activities, Boschen directed music at the Gadsden Street Methodist Church and the Temple Beth-el. He was associated with the Pensacola Oratorio Society for twenty-six years. Boschen directed the Pensacola Oratorio Society throughout World War II, during which time the group and the community experienced profound changes.

The increased military traffic Pensacola encountered in World War II introduced a variety of talent from all over the world, expanding Pensacola’s continuously evolving music and arts culture. The composition of the Choral Society’s membership and soloists reflected the rapid adjustments in the local culture as well as the "can do" attitude of the community during the war years. The audience enjoyed an increase of singing members in uniform and a diversity of Messiah soloists, who previously had been local singers.

The 1945 soprano soloist, Mrs. Rose Palmai of Mobile, Alabama and her husband "fled Czechoslovakia several years ago . . .Her training was received in central Europe and also includes coaching with the famous Elena Gerhardt of England." The contralto soloist for the 1945 Messiah performance was the wife of Lt. Comdr. T. C. Schaible, serving at Saufley Field. Lt. William F. Gregory, a flight instructor from New York sang the tenor solos. The bass soloist, Cpl. Richard Cowdrey, from Lexington, Massachusetts who had previously performed with the Handel Society of Boston was on furlough, preparing to leave for the Pacific.

No admission fee was charged for the performances. The concerts during the war years provided entertainment as well as a means to collectively express the emotions elicited by the burdens of a global conflict. The community celebrated the end of the war in unison; hundreds of Pensacolians attended the 1945 Messiah. In an article describing the performance, the local paper noted the large audience expressing their joy together, and proclaimed ". . .this is the first Christmas at peace after years of world strife." The chorus proved its value to the community during difficult times and continued to serve them.

In the mid 1950s the Oratorio Society rehearsed and performed at St. Mark’s Methodist Church. Boschen added a seven-piece string ensemble to his wife’s organ accompaniment. Although they continued the tradition of the annual performance of Messiah, the addition of such challenging works as Elijah, performed May 10, 1955, expanded the chorus’ repertoire and the musical edification of the audience.

The twenty-fifth anniversary recording of Handel’s Messiah in 1960 marked the pinnacle of John Boschen’s directing career. The inside cover of the three record set touted "Without question one of the South’s finest choral conductors, he [John Boschen] comes originally from New York City where he enjoyed a highly successful career in opera and oratorio as a singer. He was a distinguished member of the New York Oratorio Society for several seasons. . ." The recording also credited Mrs. Boschen his "accompanist-coach wife, Minnie Leah Boschen" for her role in delivering ". . . what can only be termed choral miracles when they have been needed the most." The Silver Jubilee Commemoration album was "especially dedicated to them [the Boschen’s] with heartfelt thanks from society members and public alike."

The Boschen’s retirement after the 1961 Messiah performance heralded a new era for the singing organization. By the 1960s the struggle for audiences intensified; Messiah had to compete with Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell as well as rock star concerts in stadiums and civic centers, television, and movie theater productions. Predictably, attendance to choral performances fell and future conductors inherited the challenge of maintaining an audience, and a budget. Fortunately, the Oratorio Society transferred to competent hands as it approached the complicated and fast paced future that challenged arts organizations.

Dr. John T. Venettozzi (1914-2006) arrived in Pensacola in 1954 to serve as the first chair of the Division of Fine Arts, as well as the first music director, at Pensacola Jr. College (PJC). Venettozzi’s tenure with the choral group was short lived. An accomplished pianist, composer, conductor, and performer in his own right, his commitment was to directing the Greater Pensacola Symphony Orchestra and developing the music department at PJC. However, Dr. Venettozzi provided the transition that ensured the future survival of the organization.

Then Vice President of the Oratorio Society, Sidney Kennedy, prepared the chorus to perform the Mozart Requiem Mass in May 1962 under the direction of Dr. Venettozzi. This was the first concert accompanied by the Pensacola Symphony. Venettozzi’s short stint with the singing organization provided the connection with Pensacola Jr. College, a relationship that contributed significantly to the quality and progress of the future of choral music in Pensacola.

Dr. Venettozzi turned the Pensacola Oratorio Society over to the competent direction of Chester T. O’Bannon, who joined the music faculty at Pensacola Junior College in September of 1964. O’Bannon continued to direct until 1971. An agreement with PJC and the Pensacola Oratorio Society assured the group of a highly qualified director and a place to rehearse. In 1965 students who sang with the Oratorio Society received college credit for their participation. The competition for audience and funding for arts organizations initiated the formation of the Pensacola Arts Council in 1969, an indicator of the growth and appreciation of music and fine arts in Pensacola. In 1971 O’Bannon passed the baton to the longest serving conductor to date, William Clarke.

William Clarke moved to Pensacola from Milliken University in Decatur, Illinois to join the PJC music faculty and took over the position as director of the Oratorio Society in 1971. During his tenure, the group performed Dvorak’s demanding Requiem Mass at New York’s Carnegie Hall. On May 3, 1986 The Choral Society of Pensacola (CSP) presented the world premiere of a commissioned work "You Shall Have a Song," by renowned composer Daniel Pinkham in the Saenger Theater in celebration of Choral Society’s fiftieth Anniversary. Under Clarke’s leadership CSP introduced the High School Invitational Choral Festival in 1993 that invited area high school students to participate in preparing and performing master choral works.

One of Clarke’s significant contributions was the contractual agreement between the CSP and The Pensacola Symphony Orchestra from 1972-1986 that promoted the professionalism of the group, one of his primary goals. William Clarke retired in 1994 after conducting the Pensacola Choral Society for twenty-three years. In an interview with Mr. Clarke, he remarked,

"Pensacola has been very fortunate throughout the years to have an active, well-established, civic choral organization of the quality of the Choral Society. Very few communities of our size can claim such ownership. The Choral Society has greatly broadened and enriched the musical life of the community for many years and will continue to do so for many years to come."

The next conductor, Paul McGahie initiated joint performances with the Pensacola Children’s Chorus and put forth an ambitious and energetic agenda to promote community appreciation of music. McGahie left Pensacola to pursue his doctorate at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, leaving the Choral Society in the capable hands of Maestro Xiaolun Chen. Originally from Beijing, China, with Masters in both voice and conducting from Eastman School of Music in Rochester New York, Chen came to Pensacola from a Louisiana school for the arts in 1998. He is currently a member of the PJC music department and artistic director of the Choral Society of Pensacola.

Mr. Chen, when challenged with making yet another presentation of Messiah a fresh experience for singers and audience, prepared the chorus with a story immediately before the performance. Xiaolun Chen recreated for the singers a childhood Christmas in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution (1965-1968). His family gathered around a small radio to listen to an illegal broadcast of the Messiah. Mr. Chen described the tears streaming down the face of his parents, both accomplished musicians forbidden by the government to play their instruments. The Choral Society of Pensacola in its seventy-second season will sing two performances of the Messiah with the Pensacola Symphony, in Pensacola, Florida in December 2007.

Minnie Leah Boschen, John Henry Boschen, and Edwin S. Northup, would undoubtedly agree with writer Laurie O’Brian in her review of the performance of Messiah in 1987, "Every performance of the Messiah carries with it the weight of its reputation. But under the weight of tradition lies the essential beauty of the words and music. The audience heard both Saturday night when they, too, rose once again for the "Hallelujah Chorus."

The Choral Society of Pensacola perseveres today because it fulfilled the same societal and personal human needs that existed in 1896, 1935, and still exist today. "Societies" formed to express their joy and anguish of life events collaboratively through art, and organized into designated areas of interest to improve their communities and share a better standard of living. A study of the organizations, their aspirations, and their leaders revealed some of the fundamental motivations of the community pioneers. Women, legally and socially deprived of recognition in earlier years, used organized societies to express their values, but also through their seminal influence, provided the basis for the effective role of arts and social institutions in Pensacola today.