The Beginning

Riverside has a long and proud tradition as an arts-friendly city.  In 1945, it boasted the Riverside Civic Chorus.  Chorale historians believe it was this Civic Chorus which eventually gave rise to the group, formed in 1961, known as the Riverside Chorale.

The Riverside Chorale was the brainchild of Ramona High School vocal music director, Harry Carter.  Mr. Carter’s goal, according to an interview he gave to the Press-Enterprise in September 1961, was a 100 voice community choir to perform a variety of music, with focus on “the larger works which don’t easily fit into the repertory of the average church or college choir.”  He envisioned a performing group comprised of professional men and woman, many of whom would be married couples.  The newly formed Riverside Chorale began rehearsals at Ramona High on Monday nights, which goes to show that some things never change – the chorale still rehearses on Monday nights!

Riverside Chorale’s first concert was on January 19, 1962, featuring Handel’s oratorio Israel in Egypt.  The chorale was accompanied by a chamber orchestra of players borrowed from the Riverside Symphony.  The reviewer for the Press-Enterprise praised the “over-all excellence of the performance . . . as a testimonial to the great efforts of both singers and conductor . . . .”

The reviewer went on to remark, “The presence of the Chorale in the community offers exciting possibilities for the performance of great choral works of major proportions, most of which would normally be available to us only on records if at all.”  Indeed, the presentation of great choral music to the community remains at the heart of Riverside Master Chorale’s mission today.

Harry Carter left the 65-voice Riverside Chorale after its June 2, 1962 performance of Hayden’s The Seasons.  (Tickets to the concert were sold for $1.50 for adults and 75 cents for children!) Harold Confer, a music instructor at San Bernardino Valley College, took over the directorship of the Riverside Chorale for its 1963-64 season, presenting Bach’s The Christmas Oratorio, Ernest Bloch’s The Sacred Service, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah that season.

In 1964, director Ben Bollinger took over the reins of the Riverside Chorale and the group performed Handel’s Messiah for the first time that December.  The Messiah remains a Christmastime favorite of the chorale and the community still.  The program for the Chorale’s June 11, 1967 performance of Mendelssohn’s Hymn of Praise included soprano Mary Hansen, who continues to sing with the chorale today!

In 1967, the Chorale became part of the Adult Education Program of the Riverside Unified School District and in 1968, the Chorale participated in Riverside’s Fiesta de las Artes with a performance of Brahms’ A German Requiem.

Growth and Collaboration

In 1969, the Chorale presented its first collaboration with another vocal group when it joined forces with the Citrus College Chamber Chorale for R. Vaughn Williams’ Mass in G Minor and Mozart’s Regina Coeli.

Under the direction of Ted Johnston, formerly a first trombonist in the Riverside Symphony and director of vocal and instrumental music at Poly High School, the Chorale joined the full Riverside Symphony for a performance of Anton Bruckner’s Mass in F Minor.  Ironically, the Chorale had long wanted to perform the work but lacked the means to hire a full symphony and the Riverside Symphony had long wanted to collaborate with a chorale, but had trouble locating a chorale available on the symphony’s concert schedule.

The Chorale often collaborated with Mr. Johnston’s Poly High Concert Chorale and, at its February 15, 1980 concert entitled “A Renaissance Festival,” also worked with the Riverside Recorder Society Ensemble.  The program for this concert also featured, for the first time, the Chorale’s now familiar raincross-G-clef logo.

Other notable collaborations included concerts with the UCR Choral Society, the Redlands String Quartet, the Redlands Brass Ensemble, Poly High’s Madrigal Singers, and the RCC Concert Choir.

Under Director Johnston, the Chorale changed its rehearsal location to the Riverside Poly High campus.  Mr. Johnston continued as the Chorale’s director until 1980 and ultimately led the chorale in over 20 concerts.

At the beginning of the Chorale’s twentieth season in 1980, the baton was passed to Assistant Professor of Music at Riverside City College, John T. Ross, who not only became the director, but changed the group’s name to Riverside Master Chorale, to better reflect its mission and composition.  The group also became affiliated with Riverside City College, though it continued to rehearse at Poly High School.  Riverside Master Chorale presented four concerts in its 1980-1981 season.

Under Director Ross, the Chorale continued to thrive as a stand-alone group and in collaboration with other area musicians.  The group adopted its “Singing for the Joy of It” motto and even toured Europe in the summer of 1983 with Mr. Ross.

In 1985, Director Ross took a sabbatical from RCC and Bruce Langford, also on the faculty at RCC, assumed interim directorship.  Mr. Langford continued as the Chorale’s director thereafter and brought a new energy and his own colorful personality to the group.  The Chorale’s concerts began to be held in RCC’s Landis Auditorium and the scope of those concerts continued to mature and grow.  A 1987 production of William Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast, which received rave reviews, challenged the chorale — ten singers dropped out during rehearsals of the difficult piece.

The Chorale again appeared with the Riverside County Philharmonic (formerly the Riverside Symphony) at its season opening pops concert in 1989, during the Gershwin portion of the concert, and again in 1991 at the performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125.

By 1991, the Chorale’s membership had grown to 125 singers, but it lost its longtime (if sometimes controversial) conductor, Mr. Langford.  It completed the 1991-1992 season with a variety of guest conductors.  Then, in 1992, Barbara Favorito, an associate professor of music at Loma Linda University, accepted the director position and continued its great choral tradition with a series of classical and pops concerts.

Tom Jenkins, the Director of Chorale Activities at California Baptist University, debuted as the Chorale’s artistic director at its December 2000 holiday concert at Landis Auditorium.

Assistant Professor of Music at RCC, Dina Humble, appeared as the chorale’s director in 2003, with a vision of rebuilding the Chorale and reestablishing its ties to RCC.

In the spring of 2006, the Chorale’s director, Karen Garrett, began rehearsing the chorale for its June performance of John Rutter’s Requiem. Under her direction, the Chorale stabilized and began forging ties with other area musicians.  The Chorale premiered composer Ron Kean’s American Mass for women’s chorus at its May 2008 concert and presented Carmina Burana with the Corona Symphony Orchestra at its December 2011 concert.

Current

At the end of the fall 2011 concert, John Byun, director of vocal studies at Riverside City College, became the Chorale’s new director. With closer ties to RCC, the Chorale plans to more fully utilize the musical resources of the college and to showcase college talent in its upcoming performances.   We are proud of our affiliation with RCC and believe that collaborating with talented collegiate musicians will enrich our concerts.

We are thankful to everyone whose continued financial support has made it possible for us to pursue our mission of providing great masterworks and exceptional choral work to the Riverside community.