Bruce A. Carey 1926-1934

Norden was succeeded by Bruce A. Carey, director of choral music at Girard College. During his eight years as music director, Mendelssohn Club was involved in a number of notable concerts. It performed Russian folk song settings under the direction of Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1928. In 1929 Mendelssohn Club and The Philadelphia Orchestra presented the American premiere of Boris Godunov in concert version, featuring baritone Nelson Eddy (who at that time was still primarily an opera singer and a principal with the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company.) The two organizations collaborated again in a 1932 performance of Schoenberg’s Gurrelieder which was broadcast coast-to-coast, and in the American premiere of Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, which was also broadcast coast-to-coast.