Choral

If you heard Handel’s Messiah at Grace Cathedral last December, you may be interested in the arrival of the New College Choir from Oxford, which sings J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion at Grace on Good Friday.

Thanks to the 200th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth, his Requiem, one of the most popular choral works of all time, is sure to figure in the Bay Area concert scene a number of times this year. 

Cantare con Vivo is doing Sergei Rachmaninov’s deeply moving Vespers (All-Night Vigil) as their spring concert. 

Clerestory, the men’s choral group that is partly a spin-off from Chanticleer, is back in action on the weekend, with a program they’re calling “Bacchanalia”, a celebration of spring and music about springtime appetites.

For its first big concert, the newly-established Young Womens’ Choral Projects starts off with some fancy rhythms from Gershwin, leading to a whole set of Latin American polyrhythms, American spirituals, and other traditional tunes. 

Portland-based Capella Romana is a world-class male vocal group specializing in Greek Orthodox and Slavic church music. If that’s outside your normal sphere of activity, you have a good reason to hear this group.

Last year’s performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion by the American Bach Soloists was predictably one of the highlights of the spring season.

Chanticleer, one of the more celebrated professional choirs in the country resides right here in the Bay Area, and its holiday concert features spectacularly sung, beautifully arranged carols and is a perennial favorite.

Among the better holiday concerts: SingersMarin's “‘Tis the Season… Silver Bells, Dreidels, and More.”

California Bach Society takes listeners on an enjoyable cruise through Dutch Christmas traditions.