Choral and Vocal Studies

East Bay Singers
East Bay Chamber Singers
East Bay Oratorio Society
Opera Workshop

Vocal music instruction at CSUEB provides students with knowledge, techniques, and experiences enabling them to become proficient performers and teachers.  Many of our graduates are singing professionally with ensembles and opera companies in this country and abroad. Others have successfully established private voice studios or are teaching in public and private schools.  Many have completed doctorates from the nation’s major universities.

Vocal majors and minors are welcomed at every level of vocal development.   There are numerous occasions for solo performance with university choirs, the opera program, studio workshops, and day and evening recitals.  Many opportunities also exist for our singers to perform for community organizations, churches, and temples in the area.  Each singer has the option of working with either a student accompanist for lessons and performances or our staff accompanist.  All Music majors have the advantage of continuous applied lessons with instrumental, vocal, or composition teachers on the faculty.

The Choirs at California State University, East Bay

Choral singing has always been an important activity at Cal State East Bay. The Choral Program existed long before the University had a campus, with students from all majors singing masterpieces and inspiring audiences.

The Choirs have been acclaimed for their sensitive and exciting performances of varied and demanding repertoire.  Music critics have rated them among the finest choirs in the San Francisco Bay Area.  CSUEB choirs have performed with the San Francisco and Oakland Symphony Orchestras, the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, and Composers Inc. in San Francisco, and have appeared in conventions of the American Choral Directors Association in San Diego and San Francisco.  The Choirs have also performed several world premieres of major choral works composed specifically for them, including P.D.Q. Bach’s Liebeslieder Polkas, which Peter Schickele “discovered” in 1979 and Libby Larsen’s If I Begin to Sing, commissioned in honor of CSUEB’s 40th Anniversary, as well as works by CSUEB faculty and student composers. 

The Choirs
• East Bay Singers
  (Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 12-1:10 p.m.) Comprised of 32 of the University’s finest students, each singer must pass a vocal and musical audition to earn a roster position in the East Bay Singers. Performing widely on campus, in the community, and on annual tours as ambassadors of CSUEB, the East Bay Singers’ engaging repertoire is chosen from the vast history of the choral music.
• East Bay Chamber Singers
  (Monday/Wednesday/Friday, 1:20-2:10 p.m.): Members of the elite East Bay Chamber Singers are chosen by rigorous audition. The 12-voice collection of outstanding musicians specializes in the performance of music written for a chamber ensemble of voices, particularly music of the Renaissance and the 20th and 21st centuries. Performing on tours and in concerts, the Chamber Singers present concerts both on and off campus.
• East Bay Oratorio Society (Mondays, 7-9:50 p.m.) Made up of community and student voices, this large chorus performs the great masterworks of the choral literature.  Singers who audition should possess a pleasant voice and be able to read simple musical passages.  

Audition Information 

Opera Workshop:

• (Mondays 4:30-7 p.m.) Opera Workshop is a program for singers aspiring to careers in opera, or students who wish to gain experience in any of the many aspects of opera production.   The class includes instruction in literature, movement, presentation, audition preparation, and production.  Additionally, students have the opportunity to work with guest artists in masterclasses given by national and international opera professionals.  Opera Workshop is open to all qualified singers.
  
  Some major operas performed in recent years include:  Transformations (Conrad Susa); The Beggar's Opera (John Gay/Benjamin Britten); Amahl and the Night Visitors and The Old Maid and the Thief (Gian Carlo Menotti); Bertha (Ned Rorem); L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Claudio Monteverdi); Sunday Excursion (Alec Wilder); Die Zauberflöte and Cosi fan tutte (W. A. Mozart); and Samuel Barber's  A Hand of Bridge.