Warrenton Chorale

For Additional Information:
P.O. Box 821, Warrenton Virginia 20188…

History of the Warrenton Chorale

The Warrenton Chorale is a non-auditioned community organization that has been in existence since 1953. It was started by Dick March who invited choir members from area churches to join him to form a community choir to sing songs of the Christmas season. Several years later Barbara Stinson took over the group and directed the Chorale for 33 years during which time the participation grew from 12 singers to over 100. From 1993 to 2012, Steve Aiello, was the director for the group. Steve added a Saturday matinee to the Christmas performances as well as an annual spring concert. John Maerhofer began his directorship of the Chorale with their 60th anniversary concert and continued through the Christmas 2018 concert. Mary DeMarco Roland took over as our Artistic Director in Spring of 2019. Due to the COVID out break we went several seasons with out having concerts. John Maerhofer returned to direct the Chorle through Christmas of 2023, when he offically retired.

The current director is Wendy Oesterling who began her directorship of the Chorale with their spring "Salute to Those Who Serve" concert for a Memorial Day celebration in 2024.

The Youth Chorale, originally named the “Children’s Choir” was added in 1967 under the direction of Barbara Stinson. Their participation continues to be a valuable experience for the children, and many go on to join the adult group. The Youth Chorale performs their own program as part of Christmas in Music, as well as joining the adults in several combined numbers, a wonderful blend of all the voices.

The Handbell Choir had its inaugural year in 1974 with 7 ringers under the direction of Barbara Stinson, and they have played every year since then, except two. The Warrenton Chorale Handbell Choir is a significant part of the Christmas in Music concert, presenting their own solo pieces and providing a wonderful addition to some of the choral numbers. Directed by Bob Schoenike from 2002 through 2019, the group of ringers performs with up to five octaves of handbells and hand chimes and plays a wide variety of medium to difficult music.

Our Mission

The mission of The Warrenton Chorale is to enrich the lives of our singers, audiences and community by performing diverse styles of choral and handbell music.