About Us
Singing City was founded in Philadelphia in 1948 by Dr. Elaine Brown as one of the nation’s first integrated choirs. Emerging from the Fellowship House movement, the organization has long been committed to social justice, equity, and the power of music as a force for change. For more than half a century, Singing City has brought together people of diverse races, creeds, and backgrounds in a shared purpose of music-making.
Alongside this commitment to community, Singing City has consistently achieved a high level of artistic excellence. The chorus has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Leningrad Philharmonic, and the Israel Philharmonic, and has appeared in critically acclaimed concerts and festivals both nationally and internationally.
Now 100 voices strong under the leadership of Artistic and Music Director Rollo Dilworth, and Executive Director Michael J. Bolton, Singing City continues to advance its founding mission through performance, education, and outreach, including its youth program, Singing City: Next Generation, and initiatives serving communities facing barriers to arts access.
Mission
Singing City is a socially conscious vocal movement that educates, motivates, and empowers communities by bringing people together to lift the human spirit through the artistry of choral music.
Vision
We envision Philadelphia as a Singing City where people are inspired to use their individual and collective voices to create positive social change.
From the Archives
Read about Singing City's beginnings in the City of Philadelphia
Elaine Brown, Founder
She was born Elaine Isaacson in the northeast Pennsylvania town of Ridgeway in 1910. Her mother was an organist and choirmaster, taking her to choir rehearsals as a baby in a basket and later serving as her first piano teacher. She left Ridgeway at the age of sixteen to pursue a degree in music education at the Bush Conservatory (now Northpark College) in Chicago. In 1929 Dr. Brown began her first teaching job in Jamestown NY, but when Westminster Choir College under the direction of John Finley Williamson, came through Jamestown on a concert tour, she became so inspired she gave up her teaching job to pursue another bachelors degree at Westminster, receiving that degree in 1934. She received a Masters degree from Temple in 1945.
At that time she joined the faculty at Temple University. It was during this period of her career that she was contacted by Fellowship House to discuss the establishment of a volunteer choir open to community members. Within the first few seasons, the Choir was presenting over 45 performances each year. After a one year sabbatical spent serving on the faculty of the Julliard School at the invitation of William Schuman, she returned to Philadelphia and in 1948, transformed the Fellowship House Choir into Singing City, now one of the most respected cultural institutions in the City. Elaine Brown resigned her appointment at Temple in 1956 and Singing City became her "life" (and some would say obsession) until her retirement in 1987. Elaine Brown passed away in 1997 at the age of 87.
The recipient of many awards and recognitions from musical and humanitarian organizations, including The Philadelphia Award, Elaine Brown, pictured above, was also the first American woman to conduct The Philadelphia Orchestra. Her honors are impressive but it was Singing City that held her heart.
