Our History
The Stockton Chorale started as a double quartet in 1951 under the direction of founder Arthur Holton II. When the Stockton Chorale became an auditioned community chorus in 1952, the Chorale sang only Handel’s Messiah for two years. The concert season was expanded gradually and now the Stockton Chorale season includes three to four major concerts yearly.
The group was led by Holton for many years and was administered through a relationship with Stockton’s Delta College in which singers enrolled in a “class” to sing in the Chorale. Frank Prather served as interim Conductor from 1965-67, and Ralph Prime from 1967-72. Although the Stockton Chorale Association was incorporated as a non-profit in 1977 to support the efforts of the singers, following the passage of California’s Proposition 13 in 1978, the Chorale was forced to separate completely from Delta College and became an independent non-profit organization. The Chorale returned to Delta College in the 2016-17 season.
Upon Holton’s retirement in 1991, Mark Clark, then a professor at UOP, directed until 1995. Dr. Joe Miller served from 1995-1999 while Director of Vocal Music at CSU Stanislaus. From September 1999 until December 2009, Dr. Edward Cetto, Director of Vocal Music at UOP, led the group. Dr. Magen Solomon served as Artistic Director from 2010 until 2014.
Growing over the years, the Chorale became a 190-voice group in the early 1980s, though it has typically drawn between 80-100 singers members from the communities of the northern San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra foothills.
The Chorale has performed with the Bear Valley Orchestra, dozens of times with the Stockton Symphony, eight with Sacramento Symphony, six with San Francisco Symphony, four with Glendale Symphony and Carmen Dragon, and three times with the Manhattan Symphony of New York in Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls.
Since 1981, Chorale members have participated in eight international tours: Great Britain, France and Austria, a musical tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Salzburg, Austria Music Festival, a tour of Greece and Italy. The Chorale’s concert tour to England and Wales in the summer of 1998 featured an appearance at the Shrewsbury International Music Festival. In 2001 the Chorale toured Central Europe (Prague, Vienna, Budapest); the summer of 2005 saw them visit Northern Italy and Rome, including an opportunity to sing in the Sistine Chapel. The 2007 tour took the Chorale to Scotland and Ireland.
In 2012, the Chorale celebrated its 60th anniversary season with a gala concert featuring performances with orchestra of Bach’s Magnificat and Schubert’s Mass in B-flat. The event allowed us to honor and acknowledge former singers (including two of the original octet!) and former conductors.
As part of its commitment to bringing joy to our community through choral singing, The Stockton Chorale supports a range of adult and youth choirs for singers of all ages and abilities. Information about those choirs is available throughout this website.