UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus
The UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus, sponsored by the Department of Music, is the university’s premier concert choir. The chorus performs a cappella and choral-instrumental works and is particularly acclaimed for its readings of early and contemporary music. In 2009, it performed Handel’s L’Allegro with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and the Mark Morris Dance Group. In 2010-2011, it performed Morton Feldman’s Rothko Chapel with the Abel-Steinberg-Winant Trio and James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words with the Berkeley Symphony under Joana Carneiro and works by Purcell under the direction of Matthew Oltman (emeritus director of Chanticleer). In 2012, the Chamber Chorus performed the Vaughan Williams Mass in G at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and Berg’s Wozzeck under Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen in Berkeley and in Los Angeles at Disney Hall. In March, 2014, the chorus was one of three prestigious U.S. choirs to sing a concert of contemporary a cappella music at Carnegie Hall. In April 2015, it performed the Bach B minor Mass in Hertz Hall and choruses from John Adams, Death of Klinghoffer in Zellerbach Hall. In March 2019, in collaboration with Cal Performances, the chorus sang the world premiere of the oratorio Dreamers, music by Jimmy Lopez and libretto by Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz, along with the professional choral ensemble Volti and the London Philharmonia under Maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen in both Zellerbach Hall and Bing Hall at Stanford University. The Chamber Chorus has also appeared in concert tours to the East Coast, Canada, and Europe. Its performances have been featured in broadcasts of the Voice of America, Public Radio International, and Austrian Radio. 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 Susannah on the harmonia mundi label won a Grand Prix du Disque. In 2022, Chamber Chorus won The American Prize in Choral Performance - college/university division (small program).
University Chorus
The UC Berkeley University Chorus is a select ensemble of approximately eighty singers open to all musicians in the campus community: undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and community members. Sponsored by the music department, the chorus performs literature from the standard choral-orchestral repertoire to contemporary music. Along with concerts on campus under its director Wei Cheng, the chorus has been invited to perform with the Midsummer Mozart Festival under George Cleve (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony), the Oakland-East Bay Symphony under Michael Morgan (Gershwin Porgy & Bess), and with the Berkeley Symphony under Kent Nagano and Joana Carneiro. Its concerts have met with enthusiastic reviews from the local press. The University Chorus is “very impressive in sonority, quality of tone and expressiveness” (SF Chronicle). In 2011-2012, the chorus collaborated with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra from Venezuela with resounding success. The chorus has performed with the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra several times, most recently Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in 2016, Mahler’s Second Symphony in 2019, Mozart’s Mass in C minor in April 2023, and Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem in December 2023.
Golden Bear Voices
Golden Bear Voices is a chamber ensemble that performs repertoire written for soprano and alto voices. Originally launched in Spring of 2020, the group’s progress was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic and the switch to online instruction. Their official debut was in Spring 2022, and they are often featured in the evening concerts hosted by the choral program, as well as noon concerts or Cal Day performances. This auditioned group is formed with members from University Chorus and Chamber Chorus.