"S" is for St. Cecilia Society.

"S" is for St. Cecilia Society. Named for the patron saint of music, the St. Cecilia Society of Charleston was formed in 1766 as a private subscription concert organization. Its musical patronage ended in 1820, but the society continued to flourish into the twenty-first century as one of South Carolina’s oldest and most exclusive social institutions. It is the most significant example of concert patronage in the United States until the founding of the New York Philharmonic in 1842. For fifty-four years it maintained an annual series of private concerts and ball, which generally commenced in mid-autumn and continued fortnightly through early spring. For the past century the St. Cecilia Society has sought to eschew public notice while it discretely carries on a social tradition unbroken for nearly two and a half centuries.