San Diego Master Chorale
San Diego County’s premier choral ensemble, featuring ~120 of the region's finest singers.
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Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Emotional expression and a sense of belonging are central to human health. Access to high-quality choral music helps with both of these.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Major Partner Concerts
Our MAJOR PARTNER CONCERTS unite us with the region's premier performing arts organizations, such as the San Diego Symphony Orchestra and the Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, to serve as their choral arm in performances of great works of the choral repertoire.
In July 2022, the Chorale began its 2022-2023 season with a San Diego Symphony collaboration at the Rady Shell: "The Best of Times: Megan Hilty Sings Jerry Herman" (audience: 665). The Chorale again joined the SDSO at the Rady Shell in October 2022 to perform Verdi's Requiem twice (audience: 1,219), and returned in December for three performances of Noel Noel, the SDSO's holiday pops concert (audience: 2,239). Conductor Rafael Payare led the Chorale and the SDSO in Venezuelan composer Antonio Estevez's Cantata Criolla twice in May 2023 (audience: 927). As the finale of the Mainly Mozart Festival on June 18, we presented Beethoven's Ninth Symphony outdoors at UCSD's new Epstein Family Amphitheater, for an audience of 1,500.
Self-Produced Concerts
Our SELF-PRODUCED CONCERTS enable us to bring a diverse repertoire of choral music into San Diego County communities.
2023-2024 Season:
Nov 4, "Where All Are Welcome," The Village Church, Rancho Santa Fe (265 ticketholders)
Nov 5, "Where All Are Welcome," The Rady Shell
Dec 3, Messiah Sing, St Paul's
Mar 16, Honor Choir, FUMCSD
Apr 27, Duruflé Requiem, St Paul's
Apr 28, Duruflé Requiem, St James Music Series
Jun 1, Stage & Screen
In November 2022, the Chorale had its PHAME Performing Arts Center at Patrick Henry High School debut, to present the world premiere in the original Portuguese of "Livro das Cores / Book of Colors," a piece we had co-commissioned with Philadelphia's The Crossing, from Portuguese composer Marcos Balter. Our sold-out Messiah Sing at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in December was followed by another sold-out performance at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, where we presented Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil.
Smaller Groups
Our SMALLER GROUPS bring more intimate choral performances to a variety of venues and events - from the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, to private homes, to awards ceremonies such as the Salvation Army Women of Dedication event. These concerts showcase our singers' ability to perform a wide variety of musical genres, from liturgical to patriotic to popular. Estimated audience reached through these activities in the 2022-2023 season: 1,200.
High School Honor Choir
At our annual HIGH SCHOOL HONOR CHOIR event, students from high schools county-wide are mentored through a day-long choral workshop with our Music Director, and engage on a professional level with San Diego Master Chorale singers in a concert for the community. In our March 2023 program, student participants from high schools throughout the San Diego County region performed alongside the full SD Master Chorale and the Palomar College Chamber Singers. Student participants were invited to join the Chorale for an encore presentation of one song at our April 2023 Rachmaninoff concert in Encinitas.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of favorable critic reviews/awards of art produced given by media or peers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Related Program
Major Partner Concerts
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
[Example 1: SD Union-Tribune] https://tinyurl.com/y8crqerb [Example 2: SD Union-Tribune] https://tinyurl.com/y9yqk8fe [Example 3: San Diego Story] https://tinyurl.com/y97ppwl6
Total number of classes offered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
In calendar 2019, we made 14 elementary classroom presentations, 6 high school classroom presentations, plus our full-day High School Honor Choir workshop, for a total of 21 classes.
Number of entities served by expertise
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Seniors
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Number of retirement communities, senior centers, and skilled nursing/memory care facilities served by our "Senior Sing-Along" programs.
Total number of performances
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with intellectual disabilities, Seniors, Adolescents, Children, People with physical disabilities
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Includes smaller, private performances as well as concerts with major artistic partners.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Through the geographic diversity of our concert venues and outreach/inreach programs, the San Diego Master Chorale connects residents and tourists throughout our region to the joy of professional-caliber choral music. We strive to serve each district of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and at least 5 of the 9 council districts in the City of San Diego with at least one activity per year. We place special emphasis on bringing choral music to underserved populations, such as seniors in assisted living and memory care facilities and children in Title 1 schools.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
In addition to presenting professional-caliber concerts with respected partners (such as the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, Mainly Mozart Festival Orchestra, and La Jolla Symphony and Chorus), the San Diego Master Chorale's self-produced concerts and outreach programs have brought great choral compositions from all centuries, including our own, into San Diego County communities.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Widely recognized for its exciting, inspiring, and comforting performances, the SD Master Chorale is San Diego’s premier choral ensemble, showcasing more than 100 of the region’s finest singers. We value our longstanding relationships with the arts organizations with which we partner. The Chorale was founded in 1961, and today continues its artistic ascent under the leadership of Music Director John K. Russell, DMA. Our Board is committed to sound financial stewardship, and our very active volunteers enthusiastically support our diverse, innovative outreach programs.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
A few highlights from our 2019-2020 season include:
* Rafael Payare asked the women of the SD Master Chorale to perform Mendelssohn's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" with the San Diego Symphony in October 2019, on the October 2019 weekend that immediately followed his inaugural performance as conductor. This invitation to accompany one of his debut performances speaks to Payare's confidence in the Chorale's artistic standards.
* In October 2019, the Chorale partnered with the San Diego State University Symphony to present African-American composer Joel Thompson's "Seven Last Words of the Unarmed" as part of the Arts Alive SDSU festival. The Chorale's Music Director, Dr. John K. Russell, participated in a pre-concert panel with the composer, along with professor Michael Gerdes of the SDSU School of Music and Dance and SDSU Africana Studies lecturer Bonnie Resnick.
* Our November 2019 "What a Wonderful World" concert featured about 70 San Marcos Unified Elementary School District VAPA students singing alongside the Chorale, before an audience of 133 adults and approximately 50 children. This concert featured alto soloist Steph Johnson, the co-founder of the Voices of Our City Choir (a secular chorus of our San Diego neighbors experiencing homelessness).
* On February 29, 2020, 87 talented young singers from across the county enjoyed a full-day workshop with our Music Director, Dr. John K. Russell. They then sang onstage with the San Diego Master Chorale and Palomar College's Chamber Choir, at a Mission Valley concert that was free to the public. Approximately 250 people attended.
* In the final two weeks of December 2019, the Chorale completed six presentations of the "Noel Noel" production in Copley Symphony Hall, in collaboration with the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Children's Choir. Approximately 14,000 people attended.
* In February 2020 our Senior Sing-Along group provided entertainment for an audience of 36 at the monthly dinner of the Bankers Hill Club (D3), which organizes social gatherings for adults with physical disabilities.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
San Diego Master Chorale
Board of directorsas of 11/09/2023
Julie Ann Sih
Community Volunteer
Term: 2024 - 2022
Julie Ann Sih
Community Volunteer, League of Women Voters California
Julie Ames
VP of Corporate Communications, Biocom California
Meri Irwin Rogoff
English Professor, Coastline Community College
Christopher Moreno
Paratransit Operator, MTS Access
Rob Taylor
Retired Financial Software Developer; Past President, Rotary Club Coronado
Jane R. Baker
Retired Teacher
James Shelley
President, Shell Studios LLC
Ronly Schlenk
Retired Engineer and Financial Analyst
Peter Gach
Pianist, Retired Professor
Thomas Amilien
Director of Product Management, Qualcomm Inc.
Alison Bloomfield Meyer
Leadership Coach & Educator, UC Berkeley & UC San Diego
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/07/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.