St. Cecilia Society - Performers

Performers

The music at the St. Cecilia Society’s concerts was performed by a combination of amateurs and hired professionals. Like the British subscription concert organizations it emulated, the core of the society’s early orchestra was drawn from its membership, and seasoned professional were hired as its treasury grew. Professional musicians were usually drawn from the local population or recruited through private channels, but in 1771 the society advertised throughout the American colonies and in London to fill several positions, offering contracts for one to three years. On the eve of the American Revolution, the orchestra of the St. Cecilia Society included at least twenty musicians, including gentlemen amateurs and professionals from England, Holland, France, Germany, Italy, and the West Indies. Following several years of rebuilding its forces in the wake of the Revolution, the size of society’s orchestra was augmented in 1793 by the opening of the Charleston Theatre, with its seasonally resident orchestra, and the nearly simultaneous arrival of French musicians fleeing the Haitian Revolution. Over the next two decades, the society enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the local theater musicians, many of whom traveled northward for the summer months and performed at other concert series.

Lady amateurs and female professional musicians also appeared occasionally at the St. Cecilia Society’s concerts as instrumental or vocal soloists. Professional singers, usually affiliated with the local theater, usually presented songs from popular English and French stage works. Young lady amateurs, generally performing on the harpsichord, piano, or harp, occasionally played solo works or appeared in small ensembles or even as concerto soloists.