#community-choir

#community-choir

Amidst that select company, the Berkeley Community Choir and Orchestra stands out as an organization that has thrived by hewing tightly to the radically egalitarian vision of its founder, the color-line-breaking Oakland firefighter Eugene Jones. Launched in 1966, the BCCO has maintained Jones's open-door policy, inducting new members without audition and always performing for free. Conducted since 2011 by Ming Luke, the BCCO's third music director, the 240-member choir kicks off its 60th season with three performances of Verdi's Requiem at UC Berkeley's Hertz Hall

When Eugene Jones founded the Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra in 1966, he may never have imagined the chorus continuing for 60 years. Jones, who died in 2003, was the first African American conductor of a large Bay Area chorus and orchestra drawn from its local community. Devoted to presenting great works from the choral canon, Jones was a charismatic leader and often lent his glorious bass voice to the choir.

Choir! Choir! Choir! is the fully interactive, participatory show that turns audience into performer! So get ready to laugh, dance and SING! your hearts out with hundreds of other music-lovers just like you. It's like a big birthday party for the greatest songs of all time and you're invited! So grab a friend (or ten), and come out ready to GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT! all voices welcome, no experience necessary. We Teach, You Sing! Everyone Wins!

The Voci dal Mondo choir, led by director Giuseppina Casarin, creatively reinterprets Venetian work songs, celebrating the labor and contributions of immigrants in the region.