INTERNATIONAL TOURS
An international performance tour is an unforgettable experience, even for seasoned travelers.
The Choral Society has toured in Europe several times, twice with the UC Berkeley Alumni Choir, with a total entourage of about 100 people, including family and friends. On tour, the chorus must adapt as a smaller touring ensemble, adjust to each new venue, and bring performance-level energy to dress rehearsals and performances on top of a tourist schedule. Performing a choral masterwork within cathedral architecture for which a piece was written adds a rich dimension to the performance and the singer’s experience. Working with a local orchestra that doesn’t share your language is a fun cultural exchange.
One memorable appearance was in the Roman Catholic Mass ceremony at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Other great memories are little “pop-up” performances in places such as St. Mark’s in Venice and in the amphitheater in Pompeii. And none of us will forget how moved European audiences are by American spirituals. Tours have included fun add-ons like seeing the opera Aida in a Roman arena in Verona and a Tuscan wine dinner. Conditions permitting, The Choral Society will tour Sweden and the Baltic countries in 2023.
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.