San Diego Master Chorale

Our SELF-PRODUCED CONCERTS enable us to bring a diverse repertoire of choral music into San Diego County communities.

Our 60th Anniversary Season (2021-2022) began in with an October program of favorite operatic and film choruses at Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church. Two November performances of our "Cathedral Classics" program enlivened St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown San Diego and St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church in Carlsbad; that program featured Swiss composer Frank Martin's "Mass for Double Choir" and selections from Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil/Vespers. In December, we returned to St. Paul's for our annual Messiah Sing, which sold out. On May 21, the Chorale presented Los Angeles composer Shawn Kirchner's "Songs of Ascent" at First Presbyterian Church San Diego, with an orchestra of 24 and soprano Amy Mein as guest soloist. Kirchner joined Music Director John K. Russell for a pre-concert talk. In all, these programs reached 926 audience members.

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.

In FY23 we intend to hire instructors to provide in-school choral instruction for at least six weeks in 2 schools in rural East County San Diego, 2 schools in the San Diego Unified School District, and 4 schools in east Tijuana. We are planning two AMIGOS EN CONCIERTO concerts in June 2023--one in the CECUT (Cultural Center of Tijuana) and one in a San Diego County performing arts venue--at which these students will sing with the SD Master Chorale and guest artists representing the choral traditions of various communities of the San Diego/Tijuana region. The 30-year-old nonprofit Promotora de las Bellas Artes is our cultural partner in Tijuana for this participatory, cross-cultural learning experience.

Pre-pandemic, our school outreach program brought our interactive, California Board of Education standards-based "History of Choral Music" program to San Diego County 3rd- and 4th-grade students. Our focus has now shifted to co-creation experiences with elementary and middle schools.

This program is currently on hiatus. Pre-pandemic, our SENIOR SING-ALONG OUTREACH PROGRAM brought small groups of volunteer singers from the San Diego Master Chorale into San Diego County retirement homes, with special attention to memory care, assisted living, and skilled nursing facilities. This free service was particularly appreciated by the residents of small facilities with limited entertainment budgets.

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, free of charge. In our February 2020 program, 87 student participants from high schools throughout the San Diego County region performed alongside the full SD Master Chorale and the Palomar College Chamber Singers.

Our April 2021 workshop was a masked, socially distanced, outdoor event at the San Diego Presidio, with a free video recording made available to the public. 41 high school students representing all 5 San Diego County Supervisorial Districts joined 23 members of the Chorale for a rousing final performance.

Our sixth annual High School Honor Choir workshop was scheduled for April 16, 2022, but had to be cancelled due to COVID. We look forward to next year's workshop and free final concert in Mission Valley.