Good Afternoon!
February 4, 2012
What is the Stockton Chorale?
The Stockton Chorale is a not-for-profit community organization located in Stockton, CA whose purpose is to:
- Promote vocal and choral arts through the highest quality performance of music literature’s great works;
- Provide a means of cultural exchange, music education and enrichment for the Chorale and community at large;
- Invigorate interest in the vocal arts in the Central Valley region and its multicultural population.
Arthur J. Holton, II (1981)
Now in its 61st year, the Chorale is an auditioned community chorus based in Stockton California, which is located forty miles south of Sacramento and seventy miles east of the Bay Area. Serving the Central Valley region, it draws singers from as far away as Turlock and the Sierra foothills. Initially started by Arthur J. Holton II as a double quartet in 1951, the Chorale has grown to as large as 150 voices (currently membership is approximately 100 voices) and has expanded to include the Stockton Youth Chorale, which is made up of children from 4th through 9th grades from throughout San Joaquin County, and the Master Chorale, 24-30 voices auditioned from the large Chorale, who sing more complex music, provide special ensemble effects for concerts and perform separate performances. Although originally associated with University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College, since 1978 the Chorale has been an independent, nonprofit organization. More about the Chorale's history...
Like many community choral groups of its size, the Chorale is made up of individuals with a range of musical experience and abilities. Some have advanced degrees in music and vocal performance, while others bring their love of singing and willingness to learn the music. A few members have been singing with the group consistently for three decades. The Chorale regularly collaborates with the Stockton Symphony, the Stockton Opera and the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific. In addition to regular appearances with the Stockton Symphony, the Chorale has also performed with the Bear Valley Orchestra, the Sacramento Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Glendale Symphony and Carmen Dragon, and with the Manhattan Symphony of New York in Carnegie and Avery Fisher Halls.
Chorale members have participated in a variety of international tours, including Great Britain, France and Austria, a musical tour of Australia and New Zealand, the Salzburg, Austria Music Festival, and 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 Germany and Eastern Europe (Prague, Vienna, Budapest); the summer of 2005 saw them visiting Italy including an opportunity to sing at St. Peter’s in the Vatican. The 2007 tour took the Chorale to Scotland and Ireland, and plans are in the works for a summer 2011 trip.
The Chorale strives to perform a balance of choral music including sacred, secular, classical, folk, spiritual and popular music.Last season’s examples include: Messiah with chamber orchestra, the annual Holiday Pops concert with the Stockton Symphony, Dave Brubeck’s Pange Lingua with the Brubeck Institute Quintet, and Ramirez’s Misa Criolla.
The Chorale’s season typically begins with a voluntary working and social retreat near Yosemite on Labor Day weekend. Formal rehearsals are held weekly on Monday nights from 7:00 to 9:30. The season ends in mid May. Normally the large Chorale presents three to five subscription concerts per season, plus one or two with the Stockton Symphony.
A working Board of Directors, consisting of both singers and community members, has the ultimate responsibility for managing the activities and affairs of the Chorale. The President acts as chief executive of the organization and is assisted by five standing committees. Currently the Board employs six part-time positions: the conductor/artistic director, general manager, assistant conductor (who currently serves as the conductor of the Master Chorale), the StocktonYouth Chorale conductor, and three accompanists. Currently the Chorale operates with a budget of approximately $100,000.
The Stockton Chorale, 2005