An afternoon recital by Stanford University Chamber Chorale.
With performances hailed as “Choral singing of the highest order; exquisite singing with polished refinement” by Craig Jessop, former Director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (now the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square) and praise as “one of the country’s premiere collegiate ensembles” by Robert Schuneman, the late president of music publishing house E.C. Schirmer, the Stanford Chamber Chorale is the Stanford Department of Music’s most select choir. Directed by Dr. Stephen M. Sano, the group is dedicated to the performance of literature best suited to the small choral ensemble. Their successes at home and abroad underscore Stanford’s commitment to music performance and the arts.
Members of the ensemble are drawn from both graduate and undergraduate populations at Stanford University and hail from across the United States and around the world. The singers represent a broad diversity of academic disciplines and degree programs, and — while maintaining their rigorous academics — meet a demanding schedule of performing, touring, and recording.
At home, the Chamber Chorale regularly concertizes in the elegant Stanford Memorial Church and the magnificent Bing Concert Hall. Highly regarded on campus for their artistry and professionalism, the Chorale is often tapped to work with visiting performers on campus and has enjoyed successful collaborations with leading artists including the Kronos Quartet, master flamenco guitarist Paco Peña, and England’s Tallis Scholars. The Chorale has had the honor of receiving works and arrangements from distinguished composers Paul Crabtree, Howard Helvey, Takeo Kudo, Jiří Laburda, and Kirke Mechem, as well as premiering works by Stanford-related composers Giancarlo Aquilanti, Jonathan Berger, Christopher Tin, and Eric Tuan.
Beyond campus, the Chorale regularly undertakes international tours to Asia and Europe as well as domestic travel to major U.S. cities. Their travels have provided opportunities to showcase their repertoire in distinctive settings that have included great British cathedrals (Ely, Exeter, Lincoln, Newport, Salisbury, Wells, Winchester, York, Llandaff), the Berlin Philharmonie, the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, chapels in Oxford (Jesus College, Magdalen College, New College, The Queen’s College) and Cambridge (King’s College, St John’s College, Trinity College), the Great Hall of the People (Beijing), and the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.). While abroad the Chorale has been privileged to collaborate with a number of leading ensembles, among them the Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Chamber Choir of the Berlin University of the Arts.
The Chorale’s last three albums, Illumine: Christmas at Stanford (2012), Haydn’s Nelsonmesse (2015), and Duruflé’s Requiem (2020) have appeared on the first-round ballot for the Grammy Award in the category “Best Choral Performance.”
Donations welcome.