Written by Mary Dan Eades on July 14, 2017
Research led by psychologist Nick Stewart of Bath University indicates that people who participate in a choir experience a greater sense of psychological well-being, brought about in part because they enjoy a greater feeling of togetherness and being part of a collective endeavor than others involved in different social activities.
As many of our singers will attest, singing with SBCS is one of the best gifts you can give your adult self. Being bathed every Wednesday night in the energy generated by the sound waves of 100 people singing at once is an incomparably uplifting and healthful experience. There’s nothing like that wall of sound. Couple that with the thrill of performing on Santa Barbara’s premier stages–the Granada and the Lobero Theatre–and touring to sing in exciting and historic venues around the world and you more fully understand why singers come back year after year and, yes, submit to the audition process to do it.
Auditions are August 20 and 21, 2016 by appointment. So what are you waiting for? Email us at auditions@sbchoral.org to arrange your appointment today!
American baritone, Ralph Cato has travelled the world extensively, telling stories in song with his warm, clarion baritone voice.
Tenor, Benjamin Brecher has performed over fifty operatic roles with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies, specializing in the high lying lyric tenor repertoire. He has performed 16 roles with New York City Opera alone. Career highlights include performances with Opera Orchestra of New York, L’Opera de Nice, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, L’Opera de Montreal, Santa Fe Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, among many others. His orchestral solo repertoire includes Mozart, Handel, Orff, Bach, Haydn, as well as many performances of Britten. In 2000 he began performing the great Irish Tenor songs in a concert produced for him entitled A Celtic Celebration, Twenty years later, the show has become a North American hit with performances with 45 Symphonies in North America. Ben continues his discography having added his twelfth recording in 2016 Forgotten Liszt, with pianist Robert Koenig, and will record a new release in 2022 entitled “Three Centuries of Thomas Moore” including the music of Britten, Berlioz, and Sarah Gibson on MSR Classics. He is a Professor of Voice at University of California Santa Barbara, where he has served as the Head of Voice.
Born and raised in Southern California, April Amante is a versatile soprano with expertise and facility in repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary musical theater.
Tracy Van Fleet is pleased to return to the Santa Barbara Choral Society. As a soloist, she has performed with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lüneburg Symphony in Germany, Orquesta Filarmónica de Boca del Río in Mexico, Pasadena Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, Los Angeles Bach Festival, San Diego Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Philharmonic, USC Symphony and Chorus, and others. She has had many appearances with the Los Angeles Opera, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Opera Pacific, San Diego Opera and Opera Colorado.