A Note from the Artistic Director

• The world premiere of the above-mentioned "We Can Sing That!", plus a special pre-concert chat with the world-renowned Kirke Mechem, who's visiting from San Francisco to hear his piece live,
• Louise Talma's "Celebration," an almost-never-performed minor masterwork by one of the most important women composers of the 20th century,
• Joan Szymko's "The Singing Place," a gorgeous and soaring meditation on what it means to sing together,
• Alice Parker's lovely arrangement of "How Can I Keep from Singing," and Elizabeth Alexander's cheery setting of the African proverb "If You Can Walk, You Can Dance; If You Can Talk, You Can Sing,"

. . . and much more!

Get ready to hear music both familiar and far-out, relaxing and raucous---all of it in celebration of the thing we love best, and the decade and a half we've spent doing it. We look forward to seeing you in December, and for years to come!

Saturday, December 8, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Newport Harbor Lutheran Church

798 Dover Drive, Newport Beach

Sunday, December 9, 2012 at 3:00 p.m.

St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church

18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach

Adults: $20  Seniors (65+): $15  Students with ID: $10

Group discounts of 10% available for groups of six (6) or more!
Order online today!

The Cost of a Chorus

"Music is timeless, but performing it ain't free."   - Anonymous Chorus Board Member

The Orange County Women's Chorus loves to do two things: sing and collect data. We ask our audiences for their opinions, their desires and their honest appraisal of how we are achieving our mission. Lately, one of the most frequent questions we have received is: Where does the money go?

We are fairly sure you don't want to read our annual report, so we thought we would give you a thumbnail sketch of our expenditures. Our hope is to give you, our audience members and donors, a good understanding of how important your donations are, how they are spent, and how your increased amount this year will help us expand our mission, increase performance opportunities, and reach out to broader audiences county-wide.  

Ticket sales last season provided just 21% of our total revenue--donations from people like you accounted for 74% of our income. From there, 45% of our contributions came from our singers and board members and 23% came from individual donors. Every dollar you contribute makes a difference! We spent 73% of our income on music, rehearsals, and productions and 54% of that total provided stipends to our artistic director, accompanist, conducting interns, guest artists and composers. You are making music happen in Orange County!   

OCWC 2011 - 2012 Financial Information 

Conducting Intern Update! 

Sarah Hughes

The Orange County Women's Chorus flagship conducting intern program is thriving. As one of the only programs nationwide that offers emerging female choral conductors the opportunity to hone their craft, our interns have the chance to mature in their skills and confidence in what is a predominantly male-dominated field. 

This year, we are pleased to welcome back Sarah Hughes and introduce our newest intern, Lauren Zampa. 

"The growth we have seen in our conducting interns is tremendous," said Mary Langsdorf, chairman of the board of directors of the OCWC. "They come to us with a top-notch music education, but often lack the practical experience of working with a choir. It can be intimidating to stand in front of a group of singers, many of whom have been singing longer than our interns have been alive. But they grow into strong and capable conductors who are just starting what we know will be very successful careers."

Sarah Hughes is a 2011 graduate of the Chapman University Conservatory of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education. She is completing her Master's degree in Music Education and a Teaching Credential. As a part of her degree, she is working at Santa Ana High School, where she is a conducting assistant in the choral department.    

Lauren Zampa

Lauren Zampa graduated with honors from Chapman University's Conservatory of Music in May 2012. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. 

A long-time singer, one of her most memorable choral experiences was under the direction of Dr. Stephen Coker with the Chapman University Singers, the Conservatory's chamber group. Lauren was featured several times as a soloist. She has also had extensive experience singing with opera choruses. She has sung both roles and in the chorus of such operas as "Turandot," "Die Zauberflöte," and "Madama Buttterfly." 

We are proud to have offered conducting internships since 2002--ten of our fifteen years. As you consider a financial gift to the OCWC, please consider the conducting intern program and its influence across our community and beyond.