About the New York Children’s Chorus

The New York City Children’s Chorus is a graded choral program for 200 children in the metropolitan NYC area who wish to 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 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. 

Choristers in the advanced ensembles, Concert Choir and In Harmony have the unique opportunity to prepare for and perform classical masterworks on the Music on Madison series at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, as well as in various venues in the metropolitan NYC area, focusing on repertoire from Bach to Broadway. 

The NYCCC made their Carnegie Hall debut in premiering Carol Barnett’s Mortals and Angels with bluegrass superstars, Dailey and Vincent, and their Broadway debut in The Man Who Came to Dinner with Nathan Lane at Roundabout Theatre. Spring 2016 brought the NYCCC’s Radio City Music Hall debut and a return to Carnegie Hall for The Music of David Bowie tribute concerts. 

Recent international appearances include performance tours of the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Canada, including concerts to full houses in Prague, Berlin, Madrid, Granada, Valencia, Vienna, Salzburg, and Toronto. Nationally, the NYCCC has performed at the Basilica of the National Shrine, Washington, DC, Old North Church and Old South Church, Boston, MA, Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA, as well as concerts in Philadelphia and Nashville, TN.. 

Recent television appearances include Good Morning America (ABC), Today Show (NBC), NBC Sports, CBS Sunday Morning, Saturday Night Live (NBC), and Merry Knicksmas (MSG). 

In previous seasons, the NYCCC has performed many standards of the choral repertoire as well as new premieres including J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, and Fauré’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’s Hodie, Handel’s Messiah (excerpts), Carol Barnett’s Mortals and Angels, and Roberto Perino’s Le Passioni dell’Aria and Le Passioni dell’Anima. 

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. Fanfare Magazine wrote, “The recording is outstanding … the achievement is, even more importantly, artistic. This is a heart-warming program of charming but substantial material.”   LEARN MORE

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Mary Huff conductor

Mary Wannamaker Huff, Artistic Director, has extensive experience working with children's choirs, beginning in 1999. She has prepared children's choirs for performances of Vaughan Williams' Hodie, Britten's Saint Nicolas, Handel's Jephtha, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Mendelssohn's Paulus, Faure’s Requiem, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Mahler's Third Symphony. Her choirs have appeared on major television networks including appearances on Saturday Night Live, Good Morning America, TODAY, NBC Sports, CBS Sunday Morning, FOX, and MSG. Recently, the NYCCC made its Carnegie Hall debut premiering Carol Barnett’s Mortals and Angels with bluegrass superstars, Dailey and Vincent, their Broadway debut in The Man Who Came to Dinner with Nathan Lane at Roundabout Theater, their Radio City Music Hall debut in “A Tribute to David Bowie.” The NYCCC opened the Tribeca Film Festival at Radio City Music Hall in 2017 appearing with Carly Simon. International tours have taken the NYCCC to Canada, Germany, Austria, and Spain. 

Among Ms. Huff’s favorite past press reviews was New York Magazine's listing of one of her chorister's performances of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms as one of the year's "Top Ten Classical Events in NYC" (Dec. 7, 2008) and a review in Fanfare Magazine (March/April, 2016): “the musicianship and technical ability of these young singers is impressive…but to be clear, the achievement is even more importantly, artistic.” Her recordings, Simple Gifts, a collection of American and British Arts Songs, and ANGEL, sacred anthems for treble voices, are available on MSR Classics, iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. Simple Gifts appeared on the 2016 Grammy Ballot in the categories of Best Choral Performance and Best Engineered Classical Recording. Ms. Huff’s recent guest conducting performances and teaching workshops have taken her to New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, and Texas. 

In addition to her work with the New York City Children's Chorus, she is also the Associate Director of Music at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. She is involved in all aspects of the music program including conducting the liturgical children’s choirs, playing the organ for liturgies, accompanying and conducting the semi-professional Church Choir, Saint Andrew Chorale, and Saint Andrew Orchestra, as well as managing the concert series, Music on Madison!

Ms. Huff graduated cum laude from Furman University in 1999, and continued her musical studies on a full scholarship at Yale University where she earned a Master of Music degree in 2001. She continued further post-graduate studies in music education at Westminster Choir College specializing in the training of children’s choirs. She has taught music to children of all grade levels (K4-12) in Independent, Catholic, and inner-city schools. She was Director of Children's Choirs at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City from 2004 to 2012 where she developed one of the finest Catholic, graded children's choir programs in the country. She has served on the Executive Board of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and Secretary of the American Guild of Organists (New York City Chapter). Ms. Huff is married to Canadian organist and conductor, Andrew Henderson, and they have two energetic, musical boys.