For four decades, Los Angeles Children’s Chorus (LACC) has been a beacon of artistry and community, nurturing young voices while captivating audiences worldwide. Tonight’s program celebrates 40 years of music-making with a melodious journey showcasing the ensemble’s versatility, emotional depth, and joy in song.

The concert opens with Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, a work of early-18th-century pre-Classical-era music. Its meditative beauty and intertwining melodies invite both singers and listeners into a space of reflection. The purity of the treble voices brings the sorrowful text to life, capturing the timeless emotional resonance of the Virgin Mary’s lament.

Giuseppe Verdi’s Laudi alla Vergine is a radiant a cappella setting of a prayer from Dante’s “Paradiso.” Written for women’s voices, the work has shimmering harmonies and expressive phrasing that offer a study in control and nuance, highlighting the technical refinement for which LACC’s Chamber Singers is renowned.

No celebration of LACC would be complete without Here’s to Song, often considered the choir’s unofficial anthem. Its heartfelt text—honoring the bonds of friendship, music, and shared experience—reflects the spirit of the chorus itself. Sung in lush unison and harmony, it has become a tradition that links generations of LACC singers, with alumni in the audience always asked to join current choristers onstage.

The program also features vibrant contrasts, embracing the global and the contemporary. Marco Leite’s arrangement of  Três Cantos Nativos dos Indios Kraó draws inspiration from the folk traditions of the Amazon, using syllabic textures, call-and-response patterns, and rhythmic layering to evoke the natural world. This work challenges the singers to explore percussive, textural, and timbral aspects of the voice.

Apple Tree by Aurora (arranged for choir by Katerina Gimon) brings a modern pop song into the choral sphere. Its text and insistent rhythms convey a sense of anger—even rage—and demonstrate how choral music continues to evolve with contemporary influences.

The evening culminates with Craig Hella Johnson’s arrangement of I Love You/What a Wonderful World, a tender and inventive mash-up that pairs familiar melodies with fresh emotional resonance. The arrangement layers messages of love and hope with an expressive warmth that feels both universal and personal.

As this anniversary program unfolds, it reflects not only the stylistic breadth of LACC—from Baroque devotion to folk vitality to modern lyricism—but also the choir’s enduring mission: to inspire audiences through the transformative power of young voices raised in song.