About
the Chamber Singers
Sonoma
County Chamber Singers strives to promote
classical choral music on the highest artistic level.
Our mission is threefold:
to enrich
the quality of life in our community by providing
a cultural resource which will help to identify Sonoma County as
a leader in the Arts both locally and regionally;
to
provide a performance outlet for choral musicians who wish
to challenge themselves to perform at their highest personal level;
to engage
audiences with the beauty of classical choral music, an art form
that is participatory, inclusive, and immediately accessible due to its
reliance
on the first and most moving musical instrument – the human voice.
Arriving
at the name Sonoma County Chamber Singers has been an
evolutionary process for this ensemble. We started in 1992 when
Lynnette Young, then serving on the Board of Directors of the Volunteer
Center of Sonoma County, asked eight singers (primarily members of the Northern California Chamber Chorale directed by Dr. Curtis Sprenger), to
be wandering carolers to add Christmas spirit to the Giving Tree
celebration in Santa Rosa's Montgomery Village. We liked the
sound of the voices together, so we decided to tackle more difficult and
diversified repertoire.
A
series of talented conductors led us in the subsequent decade. Robert Young directed us as the Grainger
Singers, named after his favorite composer, Percy Grainger. Asher
Raboy, music director of the Napa Valley Symphony, took over in 1998, changing our moniker to the whimsical
Quire Quodlibet. And in October 2000, Andrew DelMonte
conducted us in QQ's "Coming Home" concert series as well as
for a special event concert featuring the works of Kirke Mechem at which the
composer was present.
Even
bigger changes awaited us. After
a two-year search for a conductor, Vernon Sanders
became Music Director in the spring of 2002. Our application
process for non-profit status and the goal of a European concert tour in
the summer of 2005 prompted a change to the more descriptive (and
easier to pronounce) Sonoma County Chamber Singers. Robert
Hazelrigg stood up from the piano bench and took the baton in 2005. But
while
the names have changed, the same personal initiative, camaraderie, and
love of the choral repertoire have remained.
Our
concerts
are both entertaining and intimate, striving to bring the best of the choral repertoire
to life.
Past performances have
included music by Copland, Duruflé, Debussy, Grainger, Clausen, Monteverdi,
Diemer, Handel, and Elgar. We have ranged from short and lively
compositions such as Brahms’ Gypsy Songs and Britten’s Five Flower
Songs, to more intense and serious works such as a Bach Cantata or the Mass
in G of Ralph Vaughan Williams, accompanied by chamber orchestra.
The
Sonoma County Chamber Singers has a membership drawn from the best vocal musicians in the North Bay.
In addition to choral music, they bring backgrounds in composition,
conducting, teaching, opera,
acting, and instrumental performance. Together they enhance each other’s
passion for performing. Together they share with audiences the joy of
music.
