华盛顿大师合唱团一九六七年成立，创办人是保罗•希尔，一九七一年它在约翰•F•肯尼迪表演艺术中心举行了庆祝总统就职的音乐会，自从那时起，该合唱团每年要在那里举行八到十场演唱会，这些演唱会自成系列。该合唱团也为其他的艺术组织进行客串演出。
一九六九年，国家交响乐团的指挥霍华德•米切尔突然要面对一个难题——在即将到来的 NSO 音乐会中，这种合唱队的组织形式不再适用了，所以他请求保罗•希尔来帮助他。
在短短的两个星期之内，希尔招进了四十四名新歌手，并让其中的三十六名歌手组成了一个小型的，非正式的合唱队，他在组织这些人排练的时候，觉得“这样做仅仅是为了有趣，并没有真正的演出计划”。他组织这些人和 NSO 一起排练贝多芬的《命运交响曲》。这就是我们今天称之为保罗•希尔合唱团的前身，现在，人们叫它华盛顿大师合唱团。
在过去的四十年中，国家交响乐团邀请大师合唱团参加了很多著名指挥主持的音乐会，这其中包括马耶斯特罗斯•米切尔、多拉第、卡巴尔耶夫斯基、卢德尔、弗吕贝克•德布尔戈斯、马里内尔、罗斯特罗波维奇和斯拉特金。
近一段时期以来，华盛顿大师合唱团和 NSO 一道举行了加洛德•塔特的 Iholba 的世界顶级演出，这次演出的指挥是埃米尔•德库，这是二零零五年肯尼迪中心音乐节前奏的一部分。合唱团在二零零六年以一月又和 NSO 进行了三次合作，上演了莫扎特的《后宫诱逃》。然后华盛顿大师合唱团在六月和三个华盛顿地区的其他合唱团一起，参加了 NSO 的马勒《八号交响曲》的演出，这次演出的指挥是莱昂纳德•斯拉特金。在这个音乐季，合唱团将再次同 NSO 合作，参与其流行音乐系列的演出，这次演出的指挥是在《幸福假日》中连续四次担当指挥的马尔文•哈姆利什。合唱团将在阿灵顿公共图书馆举行一场纪念演出，演出的主题是：记忆与荣耀：9•11 五周年祭。
大师合唱团现在也经常以嘉宾的身份出现在肯尼迪中心音乐堂中，参加演出的主要团体有乔夫里芭蕾舞团，弗吉尼亚交响乐团，华盛顿室内交响乐团 ，里奇蒙交响乐团和西北太平洋芭蕾舞团。
华盛顿大师合唱团和国家公共电台(NPR)以及公共广播服务系统(PBS)有很好的合作关系，它在对吉安•卡洛•梅诺蒂的《独角兽、蛇发女妖和人头狮身兽》的电视报道中夺得艾美奖。该公司的名字在加里森•凯伊勒的美国广播公司的《美国合唱团》节目中出现了三次，并且得到了全国广泛的认可。因为在北美地区业绩优异，从而获得了玛格丽特•希里斯成就奖。它也曾经荣获地区性奖项瓦美奖(华盛顿地区音乐奖)，因为它是最佳合唱团。
在过去的十年中，多纳德•麦克库罗成了这个组织的音乐负责人，大师合唱团在全世界举行了十三场高水平的演出，发行了三张 CD 专辑，并且荣获了一些奖项。华盛顿大师合唱团也在全世界举行巡回演出，包括最近去了德国和波兰，二零零零年去了中欧。
华盛顿大师合唱团也经常出席一些重要会议，比如在纽约举行的美国合唱团协会二零零三年全国年会，二零零三年五月举行的美国风琴演奏家协会地区会议，以及二零零二年二月在匹茨堡举行的美国合唱团导演协会东部地区会议。
美国华盛顿合唱团现在是大华盛顿地区唯一的一家规模达到交响乐团的合唱团，这家合唱团的设施是全世界最好的。它聘请的歌唱演员都具有世界顶级水平，这些歌唱演员都经过了严格的训练，并且非常具有天赋。
Founded in 1967 by the late Paul Hill, The Master Chorale of Washington was featured in the inaugural concert of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1971 and has been performing in the Concert Hall ever since on an average of eight to ten times annually in its own subscription series and as a guest chorus for other arts organizations.
In 1969, National Symphony Orchestra conductor Howard Mitchell was suddenly confronted with a problem—the organization that was contracted to be the featured chorus in an upcoming NSO concert was no longer available—so he called upon Paul Hill for help.
In a matter of two short weeks, Hill recruited 44 new singers to expand a small, informal singing group of 36 with whom he had been rehearsing "...for fun, with no real plans of performing" and prepared them to perform Beethoven's demanding Fidelio with the NSO. That was the beginning of what was then called the Paul Hill Chorale and today is known as the Master Chorale of Washington.
Over the past 40 years, the National Symphony Orchestra has invited the Master Chorale to perform in a guest chorus role under such notable conductors as Maestros Mitchell, Doráti, Kabalevsky, Rudel, Frühbeck de Burgos, Marriner, Rostropovich, and Slatkin.
Most recently, MCW performed the world premiere performance of Jarod Tate’s Iholba (The Vision) with members of the NSO with Emil de Cou conducting as part of The Kennedy Center’s 2005 Prelude Festival. The chorale was featured once again in January 2006 in three NSO performances of Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio. Then, MCW joined three other major DC choruses in three NSO performances of Mahler’s Symphony #8 (Symphony of a Thousand) in June, conducted by Leonard Slatkin. This season, the chorale will be performing with the NSO Pops series under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch in four performances of Happy Holidays! The chorale will also be presented by the Arlington Public Library in a commemorative performance entitled Remember and Honor: Five Years after September 11.
The Master Chorale has also appeared as a guest chorus in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with such noteworthy organizations as Joffrey Ballet, Virginia Symphony, Washington Chamber Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Northwest Pacific Ballet.
MCW has also been featured on National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), for which it won an Emmy in the telecast of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Unicorn, the Gorgon, and the Manticore, has appeared three times on Garrison Keillor’s American Radio Company, has won national recognition from Chorus America as the recipient of The Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence in North America, and has been recognized regionally with a Wammie Award (Washington Area Music Award) for Best Choral Group.
In the ten years that Donald McCullough has been the organization's music director, the Master Chorale has performed thirteen world premieres, produced three nationally distributed CD's, and received several prestigious honors and awards. MCW also tours internationally, including a recent tour in Germany and Poland and a tour of Central Europe in 2000.
MCW has also been honored as a featured chorus at numerous conventions including at the American Choral Directors Association's 2003 National Convention in New York City, the American Guild of Organists Regional Convention in May 2003, and the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Regional Convention held in Pittsburgh in February 2002.
The Master Chorale of Washington is currently the only symphonic-sized chorus in the greater Washington community that follows the model of the world's finest choruses, employing a complement of professional singers within its rigorously auditioned and extremely talented volunteer base.
