The Sacramento Master Singers (SMS) have been advancing the art of choral music in Northern California and beyond since 1982. Our goal: to delight, challenge and inspire audiences with choral premieres, new arrangements of classic songs, and visually engaging performances. We also tour national and internationally, most recently in Seattle and Vancouver in 2017. SMS draws from an enormous variety of musical periods and styles — no two concerts are ever the same.
Diversity, inclusivity and equality are core values of Sacramento Master Singers. Our mission is to advance the choral arts, and it is our belief that “advancing” the world of choral music necessitates diversity and inclusion. Advancing an artistic field requires, in part, increasing its accessibility to people of many backgrounds, cultures, and identities, as well as amplifying artistic voices from those communities in a way that expands the canon of choral work.
We are committed to putting these values into practice throughout our organization with the programming choices and musical selections we make, and by ensuring that our membership, board leadership, and hired performers represent a broad spectrum of identities, backgrounds, and lived experiences.
The Sacramento Master Singers was incorporated in 1983 after performing for many years under other names including the Camellia Concert Chorale. In the early 80s, founding director Ken Winter, admired for his passionate interpretations and extensive knowledge of choral literature, sought to form a new, auditioned choir of carefully selected singers who would focus on expert performances of choral music. For a time, the group performed as the Camellia Concert Chorale among other names. Eventually, The Sacramento Master Singers was chosen to better reflect its ties to the state capital and the region the ensemble serves. The original articles of incorporation make it clear that Winter established a high standard under which SMS still operate today – “The Sacramento Master Singers will have as its purpose, the practice and performance of choral music, with a high degree of excellence, for the educational and musical benefit of the community at large as well as the membership.”
SMS’ first performance under this name in the spring of 1984 at Northminster Presbyterian Church included just 14 singers. Among them were current members Carol McCormick and Ralph Hughes. The choir is indebted to Ken and those 14 founding members for the vision they shared in establishing this choir that so many have grown to love and admire.
In the fall of 1986, Ralph Hughes became the conductor of the Sacramento Master Singers. The choir at that time was small – with a budget and audience to match. Under Hughes’ leadership, the choir’s membership increased in number and quality, establishing the group as an esteemed member of the Sacramento arts community
One strength of SMS is its unusual board. The members of the Executive Board are selected from the ensemble itself. In addition to those who have provided leadership on the board, the choir has benefited by its superb section leaders, publicists, librarians, and other champions of the Sacramento Master Singers brand, all of whom have been selected from current membership. The strength of the choir is derived from the collective effort and dedication of its members.
SMS is proud to have linked hands with numerous area artists and arts groups. Collaborations with the Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sacramento Children’s Chorus under Lynn Stevens, Linda Goodrich and the Sacramento/Black Art of Dance, James Wheatley and Celebration Arts, the Camellia Symphony, Sacramento State Percussion Group under Daniel Kennedy, Timm Rolek of Sacramento Opera, Distant Oaks, American River College Choirs, Richard Glazier, Folsom Symphony, the Boston Pops, and many more have made us stronger and deepened our understanding of the arts community. Guest Directors Maria Guinand, Moses Hogan, Joe Jennings, Vance George, Alice Parker, and Oscar Escalada have broadened our outlook to include new styles of music and fresh insights on music long cherished.
Thank you for your support throughout the history of Sacramento Master Singers. The choir looks forward to seeing you frequently at future concerts.
Asya Pleskach was a 2002 Cordova High School graduate who performed and toured with the Sacramento Master Singers while still in her teens. A talented and promising young vocalist, she had just begun her music studies at American River College when a car accident claimed her life at the age of 18. After Asya and her family immigrated to the United States in the mid-90’s, she began singing in the Bethany Slavic Missionary Church choir and in the Cordova High School Choral program. She also spent two summers at the prestigious Young Musicians Program at UC Berkeley and had recently sung in the opera chorus at Capitol Opera Sacramento. To honor her memory and encourage other young singers, the Sacramento Master Singers established the Sacramento Master Singers Scholarship for Young Choral Singers.
With our donors’ ongoing support, we have been able to award almost $20,000 to talented and dedicated young singers in the greater Sacramento area.
Please visit this page for scholarship information!
CONNECT
916.788.SING (7464)
smsbusiness@mastersingers.org
P.O. Box 15020
Sacramento, CA 95851
Sacramento Master Singers, a non-profit organization, is supported by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission, the Sacramento Regional Community Foundation, the California Arts Council, and the generous annual support of businesses and individuals.
2019 © The Sacramento Master Singers. All Rights Reserved.
