Welcome!

WINTER 2024 SEASON

World Bank-IMF Chorus started Fall/Winter 2024 season on September 18, 2024.

The concert schedule is:

December 10, 2024 at 1 pm, The United Church

Address: 1920 G St NW, Washington, DC 20006

December 11, 2024, at 1 PM, World Bank Preston Auditorium

Address: 1818 H Street NW, Washington, DC 20433

December 12, 2024 at 1 pm, IMF HQ1 Building

Address: 1900 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20431

If you like to sing and want to join us, you are cordially invited to a weekly dose of beautiful music and friendship.

We meet for rehearsals every Wednesday at 1 pm at the United Church, 1920 G Street. No auditions necessary! New voices welcome!

To join the chorus, email us at worldbankimfchorus@gmail.com.

If you want to see the chorus in action and hear us sing, here are a few recordings from our recent seasons:

Winter 2018, El Cielo Canta Alegria - Pablo Sosa: https://youtu.be/AwbIfngPFZA

WInter 2018, Betelehemu - Wendell Whalum/arr. B.Brooks: https://youtu.be/NUo1bmEP5vA

Spring 2019, dress rehearsal for Mozart Requiem at the United Church, where we practice: https://youtu.be/iruBVmPPLDE

And few virtual projects we did during COVID hiatus:

Durme Durme. We sent this lullaby from Sephardic Spain out into the world as a message of comfort to everyone who is suffering: https://youtu.be/W4Xvim0K0VQ

Another virtual project we completed was Joy by Hans Bridger Heruth: https://youtu.be/7AILyOqRl2c

The World Bank-IMF Chorus has celebrated the seasons with staff and families since Christmas 1958 when a group of 15 IMF staffers sang carols at the IMF's annual Christmas party. Since then, the group has performed twice a year, attracting members from different countries, professions, and ranges of musical ability. Our members include staff, retirees, spouses, and others in the nearby community. What brings us together is love of singing and the desire to share our talents and our enthusiasm with others in these culturally rich and diverse institutions.

Artistic Director

Sonya Subbayya Sutton has been the Music Director of the World Bank/IMF Chorus since 2013. She is currently the president of the Association of Anglican Musicians and has worked as an organist/choirmaster in Episcopal Churches for nearly forty years, including twenty years at St. Alban’s in Washington, D.C. For the past several years she has served in interim music ministry, working and consulting with music programs in transition around the country.

She frequently collaborates with other instrumentalists as an accompanist and chamber musician as part of the Carya Ensemble. Sonya has directed choirs in seven European tours and cathedral residencies, and participated as organist or singer in four more, which have included cathedrals in the U.K., France, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and South Africa.

Sonya enjoys writing about the intersection of life and the arts, publishing two audio books on Audible – with music and stories about French composer Mel Bonis in Difficult Women…Legends Revised and a set of 24 short stories based on music of John Hausserman titled Symphonic Preludes.

Sonya earned degrees in piano and arts administration from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. She and her husband, the Right Reverend Eugene Sutton, live in Washington, D.C.

How to join us?

The World Bank–IMF Chorus always welcomes new members. There is NO audition to join, and our members hail from a wide range of professional and musical backgrounds. Rehearsals are held weekly (except during summer) on Wednesdays from 1-2 pm at the United Church, 1920 G Street NW, Washington DC (use side entrance on 20th Street).

The membership fee for each season is $40 which goes to pay for the music director’s salary, rehearsal space, and the cost of music.

To join the Chorus or for more information, please contact us at worldbankimfchorus@gmail.com.