Our History
The Ambler Choral Society traces its roots back to the community performance of the Messiah at the Wissahickon High School in December of 1979. A number of singers at the concert wished to continue as a choral group, which then became known as the Ambler Community Singers. The first concert was presented in April of 1980 with Michael Joy as Director. Five years later, after Mr. Joy's retirement, Mark Daugherty was chosen as the new Director.
Who we are
Over the years, ACS has called several local churches home, including First Presbyterian Church in Ambler, Trinity Episcopal Church in Ambler, and now Supplee Presbyterian Church in Maple Glen. Several years after Mark became the Director, and in order to reflect the style of the music in our concerts, our name was changed to Ambler Choral Society.
Under the direction of Mark Daugherty, ACS has performed major works that include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Masses, Haydn’s Creation, Brahms' Requiem, Bach's Magnificat and St. John Passion, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
Ambler Choral Society members have also participated in several choral festivals across Europe and most recently in Ireland.
Artistic Director
Mark Daugherty
Mark Daugherty has been conducting the Ambler Choral Society since 1984. In previous summers, he has taken a large number of Choral Society singers to perform at international choral festivals. The group has performed in Innsbruck, Ireland, Austria, and Lincoln, England, and has commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day by performing in Normandy and Paris.
The ACS singers celebrated Mozart's 250th anniversary in Salzburg and Vienna. Mark and the ACS singers also sang in Switzerland and in Italy, including the Vatican.
Mark earned his Master of Music in Choral Conducting at Temple University’s Esther Boyer College of Music where he received the Elaine Brown Tribute Award. An honors graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Mark is listed in the recent edition of “Who’s Who in America.”
Mark has taught at Chestnut Hill Academy, and was Director of Music at the Unitarian Society of Germantown from 1983 until his retirement, and serves as keyboardist and musical director at Old York Road Temple Beth Am in Abington. Mark is also the concert accompanist for the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia, the oldest men’s singing group in the U. S., and he made his conducting debut at the Academy of Music with them in 1994.