About Us
Mission and Vision
Our Mission
We celebrate the joy of live choral music by performing exceptional classical masterpieces and diverse, modern works for the widest possible audience.
Our Vision
To elevate appreciation for the beauty and power of choral music through inspiration, excellence and passion.
Our Values
We are committed to:
- Artistry
- Excellence
- Collaboration
- Diversity
- Inclusiveness
- Community
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The Choral Society’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion is inseparable from our commitment to musical excellence.
We value the contribution of each one of our members and recognize that we will only create world-class music when everyone can participate to their fullest potential.
We support the personal and musical growth of our singers, honor all voices, and do our best to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in our organization.
About the Choral Society
The Choral Society is a semi-professional community chorus approximately 80 singers strong, drawn primarily from Santa Barbara County, but also hailing from the greater Los Angeles area.
classical.
We are energized and challenged when our season includes a great choral masterwork by composers such as the incomparable Mozart, Bach or Beethoven. Please see our repertoire list for a further sampling of pieces that have invited us to stretch ourselves individually and as a cohesive body of singers.
contemporary.
Not to be constrained or limited to performing strictly classical works, we also give voice to contemporary composers like John Rutter, Morten Lauridsen and Vaughan Williams, as well as rising stars such as Christopher Tin and Ola Gjeilo. These American and International artists provide music that often address compelling issues and give voice to the human experience through new forms of musical expression.
collaborative.
Thrilling collaborations with State Street Ballet, the Santa Barbara Symphony and Opera Santa Barbara provide musical experiences like no other for both our singers and our audiences. Visiting conductors like Rollo Dilworth, have helped us express the emotional depth of Spiritual music and add improvisational percussive sound to our performances. Through our international tours, we bring a little bit of Santa Barbara to different parts of the world, sometimes joining with other choral organizations and local orchestras. We look forward to future collaborations and actively seek opportunities for enrichment.
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.