Adult Choirs

“This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.”

-Leonard Bernstein

2019-2020 Season

All of Us!

As this current season quickly draws to a close, we all find ourselves caught in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced us to cancel our final three concerts. We feel grateful to have performed Considering Matthew Shepard three times before the sheltered-in-place restrictions game into play. Currently, in early May, all adult singers are healthy as they weather the challenges accompanying these times. We look forward to returning this coming season when the time is right, learning and performing great choral literature for the thousands who await hearing us and experiencing the beauty and joy that it has to offer.

"Considering Matthew Shepard was the most moving musical experience I can remember. Everything about it was exemplary—the music, the singing, the libretto—everything. Two days later I am still savoring its power.”

– Bet Muth, concertgoer

2020-2021 Season

Together in Unity

Cantare, soon entering its 34th season, is currently offering three adult choirs of differing sizes and musical experiences. The Chorale is an auditioned symphonic choir of approximately 100 voices, performing major choral/orchestral works and a variety of shorter pieces. To read more about the Chorale, click here. The Chamber Ensemble consists of 26 highly auditioned singers who perform a stunning variety of choral works, a cappella and accompanied, from a wide historical and cultural range of repertoire. Click here for more information about the Chamber Ensemble. Cantare’s Summer Adult Choir consists of over 125 non-auditioned singers who rehearse over a brief four-week period in the summer, offering two performances. To find out more about our Cantare’s Summer Choir, click here.

To read about Cantare’s 2020-21 Season, Together in Unity, as plans develop, visit our Upcoming Concerts page.

Cantare Chorale

Cantare’s Chorale debuted in April 1999 under the direction of Founder and Artistic Director David Morales. Entering its 22nd season, the Chorale is recognized as the finest symphonic choir in San Francisco’s East Bay. These 100 auditioned singers have performed over 750 compositions in 75 diverse concert programs, including 20 major choral/orchestral works. They perform three to four different

concert programs each season, generally two accompanied by full orchestra. They have performed in collaboration with Coro Hispano, Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, Northern California Gospel Music Workshop of America, CSUEB Symphonic Chorus, and San Joaquin Delta College Choir and CSU Stanislaus Chamber Choir. They have also toured internationally three times. The Chorale collaborates with professional instrumentalists from various Bay Area orchestras and features local and nationally acclaimed vocal soloists for choral/orchestral concert repertoire performances. Excerpts of their concerts can be found on YouTube.

Chamber Ensemble

The Chamber Ensemble stems from Cantare Con Vivo’s original choral ensemble founded in 1987. Beginning with 26 auditioned singers, the choir expanded to 40 singers in 1989 for a performance of Rachmaninoff's “All-Night Vigil” and remained that size until Cantare Con Vivo reorganized in 1999. With the formation of a new symphonic Chorale along with what would soon become Cantare’s nationally acclaimed, award-winning children’s music education program, this original choir changed its name to the Chamber Ensemble and returned to 26 singers. Today, the Chamber Ensemble

exemplifies Cantare's highest standards of musical excellence. These singers perform a stunning variety of sacred and secular choral works, a cappella and accompanied, from a wide historical and cultural range of repertoire. With over 1,250 choral compositions performed in over 100 different concert programs, the Ensemble continues to seek out the latest offerings from a new breed of American and international composers while also engaging with established musical creators from the past.