Ensemble Companio in part traces its origins back to Sage Chapel on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Many of Ensemble Companio’s original members sang together in the Cornell Chorus and Glee Club as undergraduates. After college, they grew up but not apart, and found themselves often singing in ad-hoc choirs at each other’s weddings. These opportunities were so rewarding that they led some singers to wonder why they weren’t getting together to sing on a more regular basis.

At the same time, Ensemble Companio’s founding artistic director, Joseph Gregorio — himself an alumnus of Cornell — had been seeking to build a new, high-caliber, volunteer chamber choir that held sacred the idea that when choral music is performed authentically and passionately, it has the power to nourish, heal, and unite people. Ensemble Companio was conceived out of the musicians’ common aspiration to build community through choral music.

Ensemble Companio’s members live and rehearse all over the northeastern United States.