During this time was active as a baritone soloist at Holy Trinity Church on Rittenhouse Square and St. Mark's Church on Locust Street, soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society in productions of Messiah, Moses in Egypt and Judas Maccabaeus, and participant in a series of light operettas presented by the Amateur Drawing Room. In 1871 he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Clement's Church, and he drew the original Mendelssohn Club members from the choir there.
During this period, he performed as a baritone soloist at Holy Trinity Church on Rittenhouse Square and St. Mark's Church on Locust Street, sang with the Handel and Haydn Society in productions of Messiah, Moses in Egypt, and Judas Maccabaeus, and participated in a series of light operettas presented by the Amateur Drawing Room. In 1871 he was appointed organist and choirmaster at St. Clement's Church, and he recruited the original Mendelssohn Club members from that choir.