Sing With Us
If You Love To Sing, Come Join Us!
Become part of Santa Barbara’s longest established adult community chorus made up of about 70 passionate volunteer and professional singers, accepted annually by audition.
Enjoy studying and singing great choral music, masterworks and diverse modern works, and experience the thrill of performing with an orchestra and professional soloists to appreciative audiences.
Our season runs from Labor Day through May, during which we rehearse weekly from 7:00pm – 9:30pm on Wednesday evenings at Music Academy of the West.
There are currently openings in every section for general membership, as well as for paid Section Leaders and adjunct professionals.
Singers are also warmly invited to join our international tours, including our upcoming tour to Sweden and the Baltics!
AUDITION INFORMATION
When: Saturday, August 8, 2026, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Where: Santa Barbara, CA
After August 8, auditions are Wednesday evenings by appointment.
Audition time and location provided after registration.
AUDITION PREPARATION
We are pleased to offer an audition preparation workshop free-of-charge to any and all interested singers.
When: Thursday, July 30, 2026, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Where: Christ the King Episcopal Church
Church Sanctuary
5073 Hollister Avenue
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
WHAT TO EXPECT DURING YOUR AUDITION
Please arrive 10 minutes before your audition start time to check in. We suggest you take some time to warm up before you arrive, and bring a bottle of water.
Auditions are conducted by Music Director and Conductor JoAnne Wasserman, and Assistant to the Conductor Becca Clarke. An accompanist is provided.
During your audition, you will be asked to demonstrate the following:
- Ascending and descending scale and arpeggios
- Repeat pitches played on the piano (tonal memory)
- Sight sing a piece of choral music
- Sight read a rhythm exercise
Please note: There is no requirement to perform a prepared solo for these auditions.
Register to Audition
By appointment. Please fill out the form.
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.
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.
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.