Legacy Circle
Guaranteeing the future of choral music in Santa Barbara
ENDOWMENT FUND
The Choral Society established the SBCS Endowment Fund in 2014, which is managed by the Santa Barbara Foundation. By partnering with the Santa Barbara Foundation, we receive a variety of benefits, such as professional oversight of investments and access to a large, diversified investment portfolio.
The purpose of the Fund is to fulfill our mission to continue to provide the same high quality choral music that the community has enjoyed for the past 76 years. Proceeds from the Endowment Fund will also allow us to expand our community involvement and educational programs to those who have not yet experienced the power of choral music. As a loyal supporter, we hope you will consider a special gift to the Endowment Fund.
By including a provision in your estate plan, you will have the satisfaction of knowing that Santa Barbara will benefit from your generosity so that future generations may also experience the gift of choral music in perpetuity.
PLANNED GIVING
Impact Our Future Through Planned Giving
The Santa Barbara Choral Society greatly appreciates those special supporters who provide for a future gift through their estate plans. You may be looking for a way to make a significant gift to help further our mission. A bequest is a gift made through your will or trust where you can designate our organization as a beneficiary of a retirement, investment or bank account, or your life insurance policy. An IRA rollover allows people age 70½ and older to reduce their taxable income by making a gift directly from their IRA.
These types of future gifts are a simple and affordable way to support, promote and preserve the Choral Society’s mission far into the future and cost you nothing now. Please consider leaving a musical legacy to the Santa Barbara Choral Society.
Always consult with your estate attorney and financial managers to select the best legacy gift option to benefit yourself and your family.
For more information on how to become a Legacy Circle member, please contact Erin Bonski, Executive Director at executivedirector@sbchoral.org or 805-323-8884.
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.