singers

Meet the Chorus

Choral Society singers share one super power: the ability to use our voices to bring music to life as an ensemble.

 

Like the best team sports, choral singing requires teamwork, practice and stamina.

For 80 singers to sound like one voice, each singer must constantly listen and adjust. Although we are primarily a volunteer community chorus, auditioned each year, some are semi-professional singers who help inspire our ensemble to the highest artistic levels.

We share the love of choral music, but quickly realize we have much more in common than music. The natural course of a season brings singers from all walks of life together to rehearse and perform, but also to build friendships. We like to say we are a singing family!

Soprano

Margaret Bloebaum
Alexia Borborboglu *
Karen Brill
Margo Callis
Nathalie Confiac
Stacy Cullison
Diane Das
Erica DiBartolomeo
Kathryn Doughty
Mary Dan Eades
Star Duffy
Pamela Enticknap
Ellen Evans
Sharla Fell
Manu Geiger-Kolbitsch
Gail Lucas
Marilyn Mazess
Margot Roseman
Barbara Rosen
Felicia Saunders
Carla Sherman
Leah Shrier
Dawn Skalen
Dana Stewart
Debra Stewart
Lisa Sueyres
Michaela Taylor
Marylove Thralls

Alto

Anita Baldwin
Marcia Bourain
Rinda Brown
Mary Byrd
Jo Anne Carr
Kay Chambers
Grace Davidson
Kate Firestone
Jennica Harris
Jody Holehouse
Nancy Keele
Eleanor Lynn
Laurie Mason
Kathy McGuire
Gretchen Murray
Kathy Piasecki
Kate Rees
Joan Renehan
Susan Renehan
Susan Robbins
Deborah Rosique
Susannah Ruth*
Claudia Scott
Karen Williams

Tenor

Todd Aldrich
John Baker
Will Breman*
Tobias Brown-Heft
Christian Hirsch
Tom Hurd
James Kirkland*
Scott Myrvold
John Rodkey
Travis Stehmeier
Ross Williams

Bass

Michael Bloebaum
Greg Davies
Brooks Firestone
Bart Francis
Chris Gillmon
Bob Lally
John Maxwell
Kurt Meyer
Jonathan Mitchell
Gregory Pantages
Jim Robbins
Howard Rothman
John Schranck
Steven Thomson**
Paul Warner

* Section Leader
** Assistant to the Conductor/Section Leader

Repertoire

Our long-time conductor, JoAnne Wasserman, creates and shapes our sound, refining it in weekly rehearsals, and decides the repertoire. 

Since its inception, the Choral Society has performed everything from works by early ecclesiastic composers such as Palestrina, to brilliant choral pieces by Morten Lauridsen, John Rutter and Ola Gjeilo among many contemporary composers writing music for the choral medium.

Here is a list of works that represents just a fraction of the works that the Choral Society has performed both in California and on its international tours. Click on a circle to see the titles.

Sing With Us

If You Love To Sing, Come Join Us!

  Become part of Santa Barbara’s longest running adult chorus made up of about 80 passionate volunteer and professional singers, accepted annually by audition. Enjoy studying and singing great choral masterworks and diverse modern works, and experience the thrill of performing with an orchestra to appreciative audiences in grand venues such as the Lobero Theatre, the Granada Theatre, and Hahn Hall at the Music Academy, in collaboration with great companies such as the Santa Barbara Symphony and State Street Ballet. As a Choral Society member you’ll be eligible join the chorus on our international tours. Tour stops have included Prague-Vienna-Budapest; Bavaria and Italy, including singing mass at the Vatican (!); multiple venues in Spain; and a second trip to Italy where we sang the works of famed choral composer Morten Lauridsen in the company of the great composer himself! During the season we rehearse from 7:00pm – 9:30pm every Wednesday evening in Lehmann Hall at the Music Academy. See below for additional audition details and to sign up. There are currently openings in every section for general membership, as well as professional singers and adjunct professionals.