University Chamber Chorus
Course Number: Music 145
Instructor: Marika Kuzma
Rehearsal: Monday
and Wednesday, 5:30-7:30pm, Hertz Hall stage
Description and History
The Chamber Chorus of the University of California, Berkeley is the university's premiere vocal
ensemble and a musical treasure in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ensemble of some 30 singers is
particularly acclaimed for its readings of both early and contemporary music. The chorus has
regularly performed with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, its collaborations with the orchestra
and the Mark Morris Dance Group meeting with sold-out audiences and enthusiastic critical acclaim.
It has also premiered and recorded works by such noted American composers as Elinor Armer, Richard
Felciano, Morton Feldman, Lou Harrison, Jorge Liderman, and John Thow. Its concerts have been
featured in broadcasts of the Voice of America, Public Radio International, and Austrian Radio.
Concert engagements have included appearances locally in Hertz Hall, St. Mark's Church, Zellerbach Hall, Oakland's Paramount Theater, Grace Cathedral, and Davies Symphony Hall and throughout California as well as concert tours to Canada, England, Germany (Goethingen Festival), Austria, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. In the 2005-06 year, the chorus performed the Bach St. Matthew Passion, sang a concert of Francophone Christmas repertoire, and toured the East Coast with repertoire from Eastern Europe and Latin America. In the 2006-07 year, it joined in performances of the St. Matthew Passion in Brazil under Kent Nagano, and performed in the American Premiere of Mark Morris Dance Group's King Arthur under Dame Jane Glover. Highlights from the 2007-08 season include the East Bay premiere of Steve Reich's Desert Music.
Critics from the New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, and Opera News alike have praised the chorus as "excellent," "splendid," "electric." "The UC Chamber Chorus leaves no syllable unarticulated and no musical marvel unexplored" (San Francisco Examiner). Among Chamber Chorus recordings, its Handel's Susannah on the Harmonia Mundi label received a Grammy Award; Liderman Song of Songs was submitted for a Grammy award; and its Icons of Slavic Music is known in Eastern Europe as well as America.
Participation
The chorus is competitively selected from singer-musicians in the greater campus community: undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, and staff. Some singers who are not directly affiliated with the University may also be admitted to ensemble. Singers in the chamber chorus are expected to have advanced musicianship skills and significant vocal/choral experience. Members of the chamber chorus typically regard music as their primary vocation or as a highly committed, passionate avocation.
Regular attendance at weekly rehearsals and participation in performances is required. The Chamber Chorus performs several times per semester, in Hertz Hall, as well as other venues such as the Berkeley Art Museum, Zellerbach Hall, and off campus.
Audition Information
Auditions take place in the weekend before classes begin each semester and include a prepared song and sight-singing. Audition information for all performance opportunities in the Music Department.
Sound Clips
- J. S. Bach,
Matthäus-Passion, Movt 4
With Alan Bennett, Evangelist, and baroque orchestra
Recorded live, Hertz Hall, 2006 - Brahms, Opus 62, no. 3
"Waldesnacht"
From CD Of Songs and Seasons
Recorded at Skywalker Sound, 2002 - Bortniansky, Choral Concerto No.
1 "Vospoite Hospodevi", movt. 1
Recorded live, Hertz Hall, 2005 - Thow: Cantico Movt. 3 "Sora luna"
from CD Eros and Dust, Palatino Records
Recorded in Hertz Hall, 2000
Discography
Liderman, Song of Songs, Bridge Records, 2005
Thow, Cantico, Chumash
Songs, Of Eros and Dust, Palatino records, 2004
Of Songs and Seasons (Music of Johannes
Brahms and Lesia Dychko) 2004
Dufay, Missa Ave regina celorum, Sanglier (a division
of Wild Boar Records), 2003
Malkin and Stillwater, Graceful Passages, Companion
Arts, 2000
Gibbons, Anthems & Instrumental Works, Centaur Records, 1997
Icons of Slavic Music, Americdisc, 1996
Armer and Le Guin, Uses of Music in
Uttermost Parts, Koch International, 1995
Handel, Judas Maccabaeus with
Philharmonia Baroque Orch., Harmonia Mundi, 1993
Handel, Theodora with Philharmonia
Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia Mundi, 1992
Feldman, Rothko Chapel, New Albion Records,
1991
Handel, Messiah with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia Mundi, 1991
Handel, Susanna with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Harmonia Mundi, 1990
Harrison,
Lou Lo Koro Sutro, New Albion Records, 1988
Upcoming Performances
For more information, see our events calendar