 The club was first led by the American conductor Michael Hurley Cross (1833–1897), who was one of its original founders.Well over a century later, in 2012, the conductors of the group are John Shankweiler (Conductor) and Clyde R. Dengler, Jr. (Conductor Emeritus).The Orpheus club performs its Christmas, winter and spring concerts at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia and at the Kimmel Center.