Pacific Chorale
About this Artist
The Grammy Award-winning PACIFIC CHORALE, an Orange County “treasure” with a “fresh viewpoint” that “can sing anything you put in front of it with polish, poise and tonal splendor” (Orange County Register), has “risen to national prominence” (Los Angeles Times) since its inception in 1968. Hailed for delivering “thrilling entertainment” (Voice of OC), the resident choir at Segerstrom Center for the Arts is noted for its artistic innovation and commitment to expanding the choral repertoire. It has given the world, U.S., and West Coast premieres of more than 35 works, including numerous commissions, by such lauded composers as John Adams, Jake Heggie, James Hopkins, David Lang, Morten Lauridsen, Tarik O'Regan, Karen Thomas, Frank Ticheli, András Gábor Virágh, and Eric Whitacre. In addition to presenting its own concert series each season, Pacific Chorale enjoys a long-standing partnership with Pacific Symphony, with whom the choir made its highly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut in 2018. The chorus also regularly appears with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which it won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance as well as a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album, Classical, for its contribution to the live classical recording of “Mahler: Symphony No. 8, 'Symphony of A Thousand,'” conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, featuring Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Los Angeles Master Chorale, National Children’s Chorus, and Pacific Chorale. The choir has performed with such leading orchestras as the Boston Symphony, National Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, and Musica Angelica, among others. Pacific Chorale has garnered international acclaim as well, having toured extensively to more than 19 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia, and through collaborations with the London Symphony, Munich Symphony, L’Orchestre Lamoureux and L’Orchestre de St-Louis-en-l’Île of Paris, National Orchestra of Belgium, China National Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Estonian National Symphony, and Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional of Argentina, among others. Deeply committed to making choral music accessible to people of all ages, the organization has a discography of 14 self-produced recordings and an extensive collection of exceptional free digital offerings. The choir’s critically acclaimed original concert film “The Wayfaring Project,” broadcast on PBS SoCal and KCET in 2021, features Pacific Chorale, members of Pacific Symphony, and soloists performing J.S. Bach’s motet, Jesu meine Freude, interwoven with contemporary works by Moira Smiley, Dolly Parton, Samuel Barber and others. Currently streaming on pbssocal.org, kcet.org, and the PBS app, it follows Pacific Chorale’s progression through the COVID-19 pandemic: from complete social distancing with each singer performing in isolation through the choir’s return 17 months later to live music-making at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Pacific Chorale also places a significant emphasis on choral music education, providing after-school vocal programs for elementary school students, a choral summer camp for high school students, and an annual community-wide singing event at Segerstrom Center for the Arts.
Women of Pacific Chorale
Robert Istad, Artistic Director and Conductor
Phillip N. and Mary A. Lyons Artistic Director Chair
Kibsaim Escárcega, Assistant Conductor & Chorusmaster
Andrew Brown, President & CEO
SOPRANO
Rebecca Hasquet, Section Leader
Lauren Adaska
Andria Nuñez Cabrera
Ariana Celeste
Chelsea Chaves
Katy Compton
Adrien Gonzalez
Brooke Lea Jackson
Saousan Jarjour
Sarah Lonsert
Anne McClintic
Shannon A. Miller
Hien Nguyen
Laura Pluth
Libby Quam
Sarah Schaffner-Pepe
Amelia H. Thompson
Rachel Van Skike
Anne Williams
ALTO
Jane Hyun-Jung Shim, Section Leader
Shinaie Ahn
Hannah Black
Emily Border
Mary Clark
Denean R. Dyson
I-Chin Betty Feinblatt
Erin Girard
Kathleen Thomsen Gremillion
Brandon Harris
Allison Hieger
Even Johnson
Kathleen Preston
Kaleigh Sanchez
Laurel Sanders
Lauren Shafer
Stephanie Shepson
Marijke van Niekerk
Mayuri Vasan
Emily Weinberg