Santa Barbara Choral Society

Give a shout-out to our Music Director, JoAnne Wasserman. Oct 9th is her birthday, and there's nothing like getting a choir to sing "Happy Birthday" to you, rig...ht? This photo was shared in class by member, Marylove Thralls, from our Gala: Mamma Mia fundraiser in 2007, at Arnoldi's Italian restaurant in dowtown Santa Barbara. The event was held to promote our then upcoming tour to Italy. "...still crazy after all these years." -- Paul Simon.

SB Choral Italy Performance Tour with Morten Lauridsen 2016

SECTION LEADER SPOTLIGHT Naomi Merer This week, the Santa Barbara Choral Society shines our Spotlight on Section Leader, Naomi Merer.... Soprano Naomi Merer has enjoyed singing with Santa Barbara Choral Society for four years, first as the soprano section leader and, for the 2019-20 season, as the alto section leader. Her operatic career highlights include Zerlina in Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, and, in Santa Barbara, Sarah Good in The Crucible (Opera Santa Barbara) and Miss Phoebe in Lehar’s operetta, The Mock Marriage, at the Lobero Theatre. In her role debut as Susanna in UCSB’s production of Le nozze di Figaro, Ms. Merer brought a masterful sense of comedic verisimilitudeand championed a voice that grew in warmth and consonance (BravoCalifornia!). She has also sung as a featured singer with the Santa Barbara Symphony in their concert of the Carnegie Hall Link-Up program. Ms. Merer won second place in the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation competition (2018, 2017). She is a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate in voice performance at UCSB, where she is a teaching assistant for Music Appreciation. Ms. Merer is also an avid voice teacher; at UCSB, she taught voice lessons to non-majors for several years. She received her Master of Music from UCSB in 2019 and her Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University in 2015.

SECTION LEADER SPOTLIGHT Robert Kim Collins, Bass This week The Santa Barbara Choral Society would like you to get better acquainted with Kim Collins, SBCS Bass Section Leader since 2018. Kim is a singer, bassist, composer, arranger, educator and voice-over artist, active in the Santa Barbara area and throughout Southern California. ... Kim received a BA in Music Theory/Voice emphasis, from the University of Kansas in Lawrence and a Certification in Piano Technology from Grayson College in Denison, Texas. Prior to his position with SB Choral, Kim served as the Music Director of SB Free Methodist Church for 28 years, and as chief arranger, director, bass singer and bassist for the popular vocal ensemble VocalPoint for 15 years. His band the Idiomatiques was featured at the Choral Society’s 2019 Gala, Springtime in Paris. Kim is a founding member, creative director, education team member and co-creator of the Santa Barbara Vocal Jazz Foundation (SBVJF), participating in intensive music education programs for area school children. Kim lives in Santa Barbara with his wife Debbie Denke, a jazz pianist, author & teacher. They have two adult daughters, Melody & Maddy. https://www.robertkimcollinsvox.com/

This Memorial Day, Monday, May 25, at 4 pm, tune into KEYT NewsChannel 3 to hear the Santa Barbara Choral Society sing in a program honoring those who have served, presented by the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation.