Mission Statement
Enrich, educate, and entertain our audience.
Preserve and promote choral music of the highest quality.
Recruit local talent and develop musicianship.
Provide a community of fellowship for all associated with the organization.
SJSC has produced a You-Sing-It Messiah program annually for 40 years. This event provides patrons with a fun-filled evening of singing Handel’s popular oratorio while also absorbing music history and singing technique as provided by our Music Directors’s comments from the podium.
SJSC regularly presents free community concerts, often with an opportunity for free-will donations. In 2018, two free concerts were attended by approximately 1,200 community members, and raised thousands of dollars in donations to local charities.
Members of SJSC perform at local convalescent hospitals every holiday season, caroling for patients who are unable to attend concerts, and singing both for groups and at bedsides. Performances in 2018 were enjoyed by approximately 120 patients and their families at two facilities.
SJSC’s repertoire is drawn from the canon of choral masterworks, including music written hundreds of years ago as well as contemporary pieces. Many works are rarely performed – for example, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem – or are little known, such as Johann Hummel’s Mass in D. SJSC’s 2017-18 season included works by Bach (18th century) and Vaughan Williams (20th century), as well as music celebrating Bernstein’s centennial year.
SJSC is comprised of local volunteer singers who receive instruction in music history and theory, as well as singing technique from the Music Director during weekly rehearsals. Additional materials are often provided through the weekly announcements emailed to members. Auditions are held twice each year to encourage new membership.
Many of SJSC’s members have sung in the choir for over ten years, and some as long as 30 years. There are extensive networks of knowledge about each other, with support extended to those in need as well as celebration of significant milestones.
A memorial concert is in the planning stages for a future season that will celebrate those in our long history who are no longer with us.