In the early 1930's, the Schenectady Recreation Department, with WPA funds, promoted low-cost recreation, including choral groups which met at several community schools. Directed by a young music teacher, Gordon Mason, the groups sang just for fun. When the WPA funds ran out, some of the singers, wishing to continue, founded the Octavo Singers. At first, they took a collection during the concerts,
but later established an admission charge. The singers, numbering approximately fifty, came from many different backgrounds. Some had professional vocal training; others did not. What they had in common was a genuine delight in the challenge of learning and performing great choral works. Mason, the founder and director of the first, and for many years, the only oratorio society in this part of the state, conducted the Octavo Singers for thirty-six years. Upon his retirement at the end of the 1969-1970 season, George G. Moross, a member of the chorus, assumed leadership. Moross introduced orchestral accompaniment to the Octavo Singers' performances. The group, which traditionally performs an orchestrated Messiah concert each December, also has concerts in mid-fall and early spring. Under Moross' leadership the group introduced several lesser known pieces include: Orff 's Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff 's Vespers, Bloch's Sacred Service, as well as commissioned compositions by local composers Thomas Savoy, Cici Hunt, Joseph Orietas, and Brian Hoffman. Sadly, George passed away in 2010. A very fitting memorial concert in his honor was performed by the Octavos under the direction of Patricia Aycox. In 2011, Curtis Funk accepted the position of Artistic Director, and during his 11 years on the podium he was instrumental in growing the chorus in both size and sound - adding orchestral accompaniment to each concert and attracting/recruiting new members in each section, creating the Octavo Singers' signature "Wall of Sound."
