History

A History of the New Hampshire Friendship Chorus

The Friendship Chorus was the brain-child of Philip Wei, co-founder and long-time president of the Chorus. Originally created for a single tour to China in 1988, the Friendship Chorus continues to provide opportunities to share music, friendship, and culture with people from around the world. Since its inception in 1988, the Friendship Chorus has performed worldwide.

Past concert locations

China in 1988
New Zealand and Australia in 1990
Russia, Estonia and Latvia in 1992
Greece and Turkey in 1994
Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in 1996
South Africa in 1998
Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Austria in 2000
Korea and Vietnam in 2002
Brazil in 2004
China in 2006
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro in 2008
Morocco in 2010
Georgia and Armenia in 2012
Colombia in 2014
Cuba in 2016
Bulgaria in 2018
Iceland in 2022

Each tour is self-supporting. In most concerts the Friendship Chorus shares the same stage with host choruses, often the sponsors as well. The Friendship Chorus performs gratis, while concert proceeds are used to defray venue expenses and support local charities.

Our members come from all walks of life, and though we come from all over New England, most of us come from the State of New Hampshire. The Friendship Chorus has always been dynamic in make-up, including both singer participants and leadership. The group re-forms for each tour. The chorus is non-auditioned and includes a broad range of abilities and ages. Singers are asked to indicate their performance experience on their applications. A reasonably mandatory rehearsal policy is maintained.

Tour repertoire often includes a few pieces to be performed with host choirs in the indigenous languages, but otherwise generally reflects American choral practices. Rehearsals usually begin with a fall week retreat in the odd year; then resume in the spring of the tour year. There are about nine rehearsals altogether. Singers are issued scores and practice CDs at the fall retreat.

It has been said that NHFC boldly goes where few state choruses have gone before. Destinations are chosen considering the timeliness of local reception and the pragmatism of travel arrangements.