New York City Children’s Chorus Celebrates 15th Anniversary Season

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New York City Children’s Chorus Celebrates 15th Anniversary Season

NYCCC’s 15th anniversary season includes a new album release this fall, an appearance with the Radio City Rockettes, a 170 voice season concert finale, and much more

 

New York, New York — The American Prize-winning New York City Children’s Chorus (NYCCC) is proud to announce its 2026-2027 Season, marking 15 years of the organization originally founded by its Artistic Director Mary Huff. The year will feature six concerts across the city that range from a program celebrating their new album release at Merkin Hall to a landmark appearance on the Radio City Music Hall stage. The season also marks the release of NYCCC's third album, Lullaby, on the ACIS label, later this fall.

This season the NYC Children’s Chorus continues to stay true to its musical foundations of teaching healthy vocal technique, music literacy, and repertoire of the highest artistic caliber,” said founding and Artistic Director Mary Huff. “Performances that resonate deeply with both the audience and the young performers that stand before them are a hallmark of the NYCCC experience. This year, though, is so much more. This past May, our young musicians learned and perfected music for our third album, Lullaby. They have leaned into rehearsals with their whole hearts and minds to bring this music to life. Recording an album, an effort which requires intense and unrelenting precision, has taught these gifted children what it really means to be professional musicians. Now, they experience the opportunity to bring that music to a wider audience, from this past summer on our show-stopping tour to Argentina and Uruguay where we raised our voices in cathedrals and television studios alike, to our favorite audience in the world, our home in New York City. Singing intimate, ethereal lullabies will warm the hearts of our listeners. The classical lullabies from Brahms and Reger, to newly arranged Spirituals and Traditional Ballads, all sung from parent to child, will undoubtedly transport our audiences to a place of tenderness and wonder — where music reminds us of the enduring power of love, connection, and the songs that raised us.”

The season opens on Wednesday, November 11, 2026 with the program “Lullaby”. This 7:30 pm concert at Merkin Hall will be their first ever performance at the Music Center and will celebrate the release of the chorus's third album by the same name. NYCCC's two advanced ensembles, perform lullabies ranging from Brahms' beloved "Wiegenlied" and Max Reger's "Mariä Wiegenlied" to the spirituals "He's Got the Whole World in His Hand" and "Steal Away." Dr. Andrew Henderson and friends accompany, and the program is offered in loving memory of Wesley Mittman LePatner.

The holiday season brings three performances. On Sunday, December 13 at 3 pm, NYCCC joins the Choir of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (MAPC) for the 22nd Annual Carol Sing, featuring excerpts from Holst’s Christmas Day  and audience singalong carols in MAPC's sanctuary, conducted by Andrew Henderson and Mary Huff. That evening, at 7 pm, NYCCC’ senior ensemble, In Harmony, opens for the Radio City Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in “Sounds of Christmas,” filling the nearly 6,000-seat hall with a cappella holiday favorites ahead of the Christmas Spectacular. NYCCC returns to Radio City on Thursday, December 17 at 5 pm for a second performance featuring In Harmony Trebles and Concert Choir ensembles, marking the first time both NYCCC's ensembles have performed alongside the Rockettes.

In the new year, NYCCC presents the concert “Coronations & Lullabies” in two performances: Sunday, February 7, 2027 at 3 pm at the Church of the Ascension, and Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 4 pm at St. Ignatius Loyola. The program will make use of the church's Mander organ, played by Andrew Henderson. The St. Ignatius performance is also a homecoming for Artistic Director Mary Huff, who led choirs there fifteen years ago. Both concerts pair favorites from the Lullaby album with other favored repertoire including Purcell's Sound the Trumpet, Vaughan Williams' Rhosymedre, and Handel's Zadok the Priest which will celebrate its 300^th anniversary in 2027.

The season closes on Sunday, May 16, 2027 at 3 pm with “A Royal Tapestry” at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. Five NYCCC ensembles — In Harmony, Concert Choir, Allegro, and Intermezzo — join for a program of over 170 choristers, grades 3 -12, performing music of coronations, fairy tales, and royal courts. Ending the season in harmonic splendor!

 

Concert Details:

Lullaby
Date/Time: Wednesday, November 11, 2026 at 7:30 pm
Location: Merkin Hall: 129 West 67^th Street, New York, NY 10023
Tickets: Purchase Here

Ensembles: In Harmony & Concert Choir
Directed by Artistic Director, Mary Huff, and accompanied by Dr. Andrew Henderson & Friends.

Celebrating the release of their third album, Lullaby, the award-winning New York City Children’s Chorus will share their favorite lullabies from Brahms’ “Wiegenlied” and Reger’s “Mariä Wiegenlied”, to traditional spirituals.

 

22^nd Annual Carol Sing
Date/Time: Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 3 pm
Location: Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church: 921 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10021
Tickets: Purchase Here

Ensembles:
Choir of Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church
New York City Children’s Chorus: In Harmony & Concert Choir

Conducted by Andrew Henderson & Artistic Director Mary Huff

The annual presentation of seasonal readings and radiant choral music, including excerpts from Holst’s Christmas Day. The audience is invited to join in the singing of hearty Christmas Carols accompanied by guest instrumentalists in the seasonal resplendence of MAPC’s sanctuary.

 

Sounds of Christmas
Date/Time: Sunday, December 13, 2026 at 7 pm & Thursday, December 17, 2026 at 5 pm
Location: Radio City Music Hall (1260 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020)
Tickets: Purchase Here

Ensembles: In Harmony & Concert Choir*

Conducted by Artistic Director Mary Huff

Celebrate the holidays with the New York City Children’s Chorus as In Harmony opens for the legendary Radio City Rockettes on one of the most famous stages in the world. Performing a cappella holiday favorites, our choristers will fill the nearly 6,000 seat hall with their radiant voices prior to the 7 pm performance of the Christmas Spectacular.

*Only on the December 17 performance

 

Coronations & Lullabies
Date/Time: Sunday, February 7, 2027 at 3 pm & Sunday, April 11, 2027 at 4 pm
Location: Church of the Ascension (Feb 27 – 221 W 107th St, New York, NY 10025) & St. Ignatius Loyola ( April 11 – 980 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10028)
Tickets:
February 27 - Donation at the door
Aprill 11 – Purchase Here

Ensembles: In Harmony & Concert Choir

Conducted by Artistic Director Mary Huff
Andrew Henderson, piano and organ

Celebrating the recent release of NYCCC’s album, Lullaby, NYCCC will share favorite lullabies from the album juxtaposed with regal and heroic music of royal occasions including Purcell’s Sound the Trumpet, Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre, Handel’s Zadok the Priest and Let their Celestial Concert All Unite.

 

A Royal Tapestry
Date/Time: Sunday, May 16, 2027 at 3 pm
Location: Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church (921 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 1002)
Tickets: Purchase Here

Ensembles: In Harmony, Concert Choir, Allegro, & Intermezzo
Conducted by Artistic Director Mary Huff
Andrew Henderson, piano and organ

Five ensembles from the New York City Children’s Chorus – totaling over 170 choristers – will perform music of coronations, fairy tales, court romance, and regal processions from Handel’s “Zadok the Priest” to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.

 

ABOUT NEW YORK CITY CHILDREN’S CHORUS

The New York City Children’s Chorus is a graded choral program for over 200 children in the metropolitan NYC area who receive training in the art of singing in a rigorous and rewarding choral environment. Founded in 2012 by Mary Huff, the New York City Children’s Chorus (NYCCC) enables choristers, through hard work and dedication, to develop a passionate commitment to excellence through the choral art, to learn discipline and self-confidence, and to give back to their community through the gift of music.

The 2025-26 season included performances of Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas with the Saint Andrew Music Chorale and Orchestra, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Hunter College Choir, and its first South American tour to Argentina and Uruguay. In 2021, the NYCCC won The American Prize’s Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music for their recording of Randall Thompson’s “The Place of the Blest,” the first recording of the chamber orchestra version of this masterwork for treble voices. In addition to winning this top award, their album, Christmas in New York, won 3rd place for the American Prize in Choral Performance. In 2015, NYCCC choristers made their European concert debut while on tour to Austria and Germany at the Votivkirke in Vienna, Melk Abbey, and Salzburg Cathedral. The NYCCC made its Broadway debut in The Man Who Came to Dinner with Nathan Lane at Roundabout Theatre. The advanced performing ensembles have graced the stages of New York’s most prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Town Hall.

In previous seasons, the NYCCC has performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Duruflé’s Requiem, Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, Fauré’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’ Sancta Civitas, and they have shared the stage with the American Classical Orchestra, the Monica Barnes Dance Company, Westminster Choir College, and toured France, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Czech Republic, Uruguay, Austria, Boston, Washington, D.C., Toronto, Philadelphia and Nashville. Television appearances include Saturday Night Live, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again, Apple TV’s City on Fire, NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC Sports, and FOX. The Choir’s first album, Simple Gifts, a collection of American and British Art songs from the 20th Century, was released by MSR Classics in the fall of 2015. Please visit www.nycchildrenschorus.org for more information.

  

ABOUT MARY HUFF

Mary Wannamaker Huff is Artistic Director of the New York City Children’s Chorus where she leads a program of over 200 children across eight choirs. Her choirs have appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall, Broadway, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall, as well as Saturday Night Live, TODAY, Good Morning America, Marvel’s Daredevil, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Apple TV , NBC Sports, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX, and MSG Media, in addition to touring internationally to France, Canada, Germany, Austria, Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and the Czech Republic. Fanfare Magazine reviewed, “the musicianship and technical ability of these young singers is impressive . . .” One of her chorister’s solo performances of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms was hailed as one of New York Magazine’s “Top Ten Classical Events in NYC.”

Ms. Huff has recorded three albums on MSR Classics: Christmas in New York, Simple Gifts: American and British Arts Songs of the 20th Century (both on the Grammy ballot for Best Choral Performance) and Angel: Sacred Anthems for Treble Voices. NYCCC’s newest album, Lullaby, will be released in the fall of 2026 on the ACIS label. Ms. Huff holds degrees from Furman and Yale Universities.