Article on the withdrawal of the New Yorker Allgemeine Sangerbund from the tenth Choral Festival in Philadelphia

Why does the New Yorker Allgemeine Sängerbund not participate at the 10th Choral Festival in Philadephia this year? It all started with the festival delegation’s decision to invite two cooperating choral groups from New York, one, the New Yorker Allgemeine Sängerbund (N.Y. A. S.) and two, the group consisting of all other NY choruses named the New York Central-Committee of the festival. The Central Committee saw a dangerous precedent case in this decision which could eventually create division between choruses, and it therefore asked [Philadelphia] for a change of this decision. A delegation of the N.Y.A.S. was sent to Philadelphia and after heated discussions, the decision still stood. Following this, the Central-Committee decided not to participate. The festival committee (in Philadelphia) was in a bind: it realized soon that more than 40 NY choruses would withdraw from the event, unless they changed their minds. So they decided to cancel the original invitation of two NY entities. Instead they welcomed “the New York singers” to the festival, and decided that the New York singers may only sing one piece in the main concert. Under these circumstances, the N.Y.A.S. decided to withdraw.  It left the decision up to the choruses in their society to join or not join the New York singers in order to participate. The Sozial-Reform-Liedertafel and the Hudson Men’s Chorus joined, not so the Allemania, Germania, Loreley Men’s Chorus and the Schiller Bund.