The mission of the Alexandria Choral Society (ACS) is to enhance the cultural life of Alexandria by presenting diverse and engaging vocal music programs at the highest artistic level. For more than half a century, ACS has strived to enrich the community with a broad spectrum of choral works, from the Renaissance to modern American composers, from small chamber pieces to major works for chorus and orchestra, and from a great variety of musical languages and cultures. 

Founded in 1970, ACS was formed as a component of the Performing Arts Association of Alexandria, with encouragement from the Alexandria City Council. In 1978, the chorus independently incorporated under the vision of founding director Francisco de Araujo. 
 

ACS’s long history includes the commissioning and premiering of Russell Woollen’s Alexandria Suite in 1987, which it presented numerous times during 1999, the city’s 250th anniversary year. Another significant commission and premiere was the initial composition and subsequent orchestration of Dirge for Two Veterans by Richard Bales, based on a text by Walt Whitman, and premiered at the composer's final concert as music director of the National Gallery of Art. More recently, ACS has both performed classic works such as Faure’s Requiem and premiered new works by Christopher Hoh, Jonathan Kolm, Lori Laitman, and Tawnie Olson. With thoughtful programming, and a longstanding practice of commissioning new works, ACS is expanding the choral repertoire in the city of Alexandria, the greater Washington region, and the larger choral world.

In addition to promoting choral music, ACS has always strived to support choral education, with a longstanding award program recognizing musical excellence in local school groups and inviting them to perform jointly with ACS.

We take an active role in musical collaboration, frequently performing with other local instrumental and choral groups, both professional and community-based. ACS frequently participates at community events in Alexandria, such as the Art of the Avenue Festival in Del Ray, and in 2024 hosted an inaugural Choral Festival for the City of Alexandria. ACS also frequently hosts special community appearances of our smaller chamber chorus, Pro Coro Alexandria, made up of ACS members selected by audition.
 

In the 1990s, ACS began a series of international concert tours. This tradition was recently revived in 2025, with a tour of Ireland and Scotland, including a special stop in Alexandria's sister city of Dundee Scotland, where we performed in collaboration with the New Dundee Choir That Doesn't Have a Name Yet.

ACS has received a number of awards over the years. In 1992, ACS was an initial recipient of the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, and ACS was twice selected for the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce’s ALEX Award, recognizing artistic excellence in service to the arts in Alexandria. In 2020, ACS was honored with an official letter of commendation from the Senate of the Commonwealth of Virginia in recognition of our 50th season and for outstanding community engagement and dedicated service to the citizens of Alexandria.

Throughout ACS's more than 55 years of history, our roster of distinguished music directors have included Francisco de Araujo, Martin Piecuch, Robert Shafer, Douglas Major, Kerry Krebill, Keith Reas, Philip Cave, Brian Gendron, Brian Fontaine-Isaac, and current Artistic Director Kathryn Harsha.

ACS looks forward to many more years of bringing great choral performances to the city of Alexandria and the greater DMV are