HISTORY

In December 2015, conductor Gary D. Cannon invited singer and arts administrator J. Scott Kovacs to embark on a new artistic partnership: a fully professional choir that engaged the best ensemble singers in the Seattle area. Unlike other professional choirs in the region, the ensemble would present music from every historical period. And this music was not to be limited to concert-going audiences. Rather, Cannon’s vision was to bring the music also to those places and people that wouldn’t normally be exposed to this art, including schools, prisons, homeless shelters, elder-care facilities, and the like.

A name was chosen for this new enterprise: the Emerald Ensemble. The emerald was selected not only for its connection with Seattle, the so-called Emerald City, but also as a jewel that represents beauty, depth, richness of color, fine craft, and overall excellence.

In March 2016, Kovacs, as the organization’s Executive Director, initiated the legal and financial foundation of the new organization. The newly established non-profit company formed a fiscal sponsorship with the Byrd Ensemble, allowing the reception of tax-deductible contributions. A generous local donor underwrote the first several months of expenses, and fund-raising events were held. As Cannon and Kovacs began talking with their musical colleagues and making Facebook posts about the new group, buzz flitted about Seattle’s choral community.

Cannon, as Artistic Director, conducted the inaugural season. Nineteen musicians took part in the opening concert, which consisted of all six Bach motets—a veritable choral Everest. A performance of early twentieth-century English music, for which Cannon had developed a local reputation, soon followed. Contemporaneous to those initial concerts, a quartet of Emerald Ensemble singers—including Cannon and Kovacs—began performing at underreached venues. The first such performance was at Bailey-Boushay House in Seattle, which still today retains a relationship with the Ensemble.

Later seasons have brought music from the Renaissance to the modern day, including major works by Bax, Brahms, Britten, Dvořák, Tippett, Vaughan Williams, and contemporary composers William Averitt, David Lang, and Judith Weir. The Emerald Ensemble has also developed relationships with Seattle-area composers Greg Bartholomew, Steve Danielson, David Hahn, Jeremy Kings, Morten Lauridsen, Charles Lovekin, Donald M. Skirvin, and Karen P. Thomas. The Ensemble has twice performed live on 98.1 Classical KING-FM radio, and was invited by the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium to perform for a concert devoted to local composer Morten Lauridsen. The National Nordic Museum has welcomed the Emerald Ensemble as a regular feature on its concert series.

During the covid-19 crisis, the Emerald Ensemble paused public performances. However, operations continued thanks to an new and exciting program initiated by Kovacs, called the Emerald Choral Academy. Singers from the Emerald Ensemble roster were invited to give online interactive webinars on topics ranging from vocal technique to diction to music history. These presentations were geared toward community singers, allowing professionals to share their personal tricks of the trade. Over six semesters, the Emerald Choral Academy presented thirty-one hour-long webinars, making them available freely via YouTube.

During 2022, as the covid crisis abated, public performances resumed and the Emerald Choral Academy paused. The organization bid farewell to Executive Director J. Scott Kovacs, who left to pursue a master's degree in vocal pedagogy through the University of Wales. As of winter 2024, the Emerald Ensemble has presented eleven principle concerts, usually two per season. At various points, the Emerald Ensemble has sung works by sixty-six composers and in twelve languages. Click below to see each concert's separate page, including a further link to complete program notes.

You can also see a list of all the musicians who have performed with the Emerald Ensemble.