Long Beach Camerata Singers

Long Beach Camerata Singers (LBCS) is the professional choral organization serving Long Beach and serves as the official choral partner of the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra. This year's Long Beach Gives campaign is dedicated to our Education Programs: The Camerata Children's Music Academy and Peace4Youth.

The Music Academy serves children 2 to 5 years old, teaching music fundamentals in a series of workshops and performances. In the 2023-2024 season, CCMA will teach approximately 500 workshops and present 20 performances

Peace4Youth brings the Peace Project to LBUSD Middle Schools, where choral students have the opportunity to learn the music and perform in an assembly of their peers alongside members of the Long Beach Camerata Singers. A series of workshops before concert day gives the students in-depth understanding of the music and the topic. Students also receive coaching on their public speaking skills and act as narrators for the concert. In October 2022, Peace4Youth will be presented at 3 Long Beach Schools: Washington, Hughes and Renaissance High School..

A little bit about our programming for this year:

We entertained friends and neighbors all over Long Beach this summer with 9 free Front Porch Concerts!

Our fall concert is the Peace Project, now in its seventh year. The underlying premise of the series is that music is a force for peace and healing. The concerts are structured to address and discuss current disparities and inequalities within our society. Our Artistic Director prepares a narrative to guide the audience through the experience, connecting the music to the theme and providing quotes and readings to enhance the experience. This year we will begin a two-year cycle considering environmental issues. In October, 2023, the Peace Project 7 theme will be "Our Beautiful Oceans."

In late November, The Catalyst Chamber Ensemble will present it first Candlelight Christmas concert, featuring holiday favorites plus other little known gems of chamber music, all exquisitely sung by our all-professional group.

In December, we will present Handel's Messiah in collaboration with the Tesserae Baroque Ensemble. 2023 will be the 16th annual performance, and the only professional offering of the work in the local area. In March, the large chorus will be performing the Brahms "Requiem" with the Long Beach Symphony. Catalyst will take advantage of that pause in the Camerata schedule to perform a concert of Renaissance music called "Music of the Bard." The final concert of the year is Evening of Song, which presents an opportunity to showcase the individual talents of the singers in the ensemble, in a light-hearted, casual and yet intimate evening of music.

By bringing high quality, professional music performances to Long Beach, we have become a household name to the 465,000 residents of our city, and the additional 1.1 million residents in the surrounding area.

Testimonials

Peace4Youth comments from Washington Middle School Students:

"This made me feel more open about my traditions. I used to be scared of being an immigrant because I thought I would get bullied. But this made me feel better about being one."
"I was very happy to hear the experience because it has opened my eyes to music."
"It was inspiring . . . It was cool."

Comments from our recent "Spain and the New World" Concert:
1. "The music, wonderfully performed, was beautiful and uplifting . . . "
2. "Polyphonic a capella music - especially when so well-performed - is the closest thing I experience to God"
3. "Great..even better than expected..wonderful music great musicians and fabulous director"
4. "Wonderful concert, enjoying these excellent voices led by Dr. Bass was highlight of my weekend."
5. "Normally I don't waste my time with these interminable surveys, but this performance was so impressive I wanted to comment on the quality of the singers and the conductor. It was incredibly difficult music, it was beautiful, it was historically instructive, it was ethereal. It was all I could have hoped for. I could easily listened to another hours' worth . . . "