Orange County Women's Chorus Announces 2019-2020 Season

The holiday season is one of joy, warmth, and togetherness . . . but it can include some other emotions that choirs never seem to sing about! We're taking an honest and humorous musical look at the "most wonderful time of the year" with a program that combines the music of community and celebration with works about everything from the winter doldrums to the overabundance of Facebook posts on Christmas morning. Hear works by Cécile Chaminade, Joan Szymko, Eleanor Daley, Daniel Pinkham, and more! The concerts will take place at Newport Harbor Lutheran Church, 798 Dover Drive, Newport Beach on Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. and at St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, 18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach on Sunday, December 8, 2019 at 3:00 p.m. Please join us for a reception after each performance.

Tickets are available for general admission, $30; seniors (65+), $25; and students with ID, $15. Discounts are available for groups and members of Newport Harbor Lutheran and St. Wilfrid of York. Purchase season tickets and save as much as 33%! Visit www.ocwomenschorus.org or call (949) 451-8590 to purchase tickets or for more information! Tickets will be available at the door.

Founded in 1997, the Orange County Women's Chorus is now in its 22nd season as one of the region's top amateur ensembles. The chorus is one of only 18 choirs invited to perform at the March 2020 Western Division Conference of the American Choral Directors' Association. The OCWC was named a 2014 Outstanding Arts Organization by Arts Orange County, was a prizewinner in July 2015 at the International Musical Eisteddfod (festival) in Llangollen, Wales, and participated in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Kirke Mechem's Songs of the Slave in New York City in June 2017 under the baton of Eliza Rubenstein. The chorus previously appeared at the Western Division Conference of ACDA in 2012 and 2004.

Eliza Rubenstein, Artistic Director and Conductor, is also the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and Chair of the Music Department at Orange Coast College, and the Artistic Director of the Long Beach Chorale and Chamber Orchestra. She currently serves on the Board of the California Choral Directors' Association as the editor of Cantate. She studied choral conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music before moving to California to earn her master's degree at UC-Irvine.

Sarah Hughes, in her seventh season as the OCWC's Assistant Director, is a 2011 graduate of the Conservatory of Music at Chapman University in Orange, CA. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education with an emphasis in voice and a Master of Arts degree in teaching from Chapman University. Sarah teaches elementary music in the Fountain Valley Unified School District.

Janelle Kim (piano) received a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from California State University-Fullerton in piano performance. Besides maintaining a busy private piano studio, she is a staff pianist, vocal coach, and music instructor at Orange Coast College.

Tasha Miller (conducting intern) has a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education and her single subject teaching credential in music from California State University-Fullerton. She was a member of CSUF's Concert Choir, and has appeared with Andrea Bocelli, Tori Kelley, Deborah Voigt, Kathleen Battle, and Rod Gilfry. Tasha teaches first through fourth grade vocal music in the Redondo Beach Unified School District.