Chorus History
The Santa Rosa Symphonic Chorus has enjoyed a long and celebrated history in the musical life of Sonoma County. Founded by Chester Beck in the fall of 1934, the chorus, originally named the Santa Rosa Chorus, began as an evening class at Santa Rosa High School.
The first concert given by the chorus was a performance of Handel’s Messiah under Mr. Beck’s direction, jointly presented with the San Francisco Municipal Chorus at Santa Rosa High School on January 6, 1935. In 1944, after a two year stint in the service, Chester Beck returned to Santa Rosa and the chorus became a part of the adult education community service program of Santa Rosa Junior College. As the membership now comprised members from all parts of Sonoma County, the chorus became known as the Sonoma County Chorus.
When Mr. Beck died in 1966, the chorus’s leadership was taken over by his long-time friend, assistant director and tenor soloist, Harry Meyn (1966-1968). Mr. Meyn was followed by a succession of directors until, in 1979, Dr. Curtis Sprenger asked Dan Earl, music teacher at Santa Rosa High School, to become the seventh music director of the chorus.
For the next seven years the chorus, under Earl’s direction, continued to develop artistically in stature. After leaving the chorus at the end of 1986, he was followed by four more directors, each putting his own stamp on the success of the chorus. During Lloyd Elliot’s tenure, the chorus changed its name to the Santa Rosa Symphonic Chorus.
In the fall of 2000, Dan Earl came back to the chorus as its director and is its present leader. With Earl’s return, the chorus is reestablishing its place in the musical life of Sonoma County, presenting a diversified program of great choral literature to an ever changing community.
Within the past decade they have performed such master works as Brahms’ German Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah, as well as a series of exciting and beautiful music of other composers. The chorus has entered into many collaborations with other music groups, including the Redwood Empire Sing-Along Messiah with the Santa Rosa Chamber Orchestra, Beethoven’s Ninth and Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe with the American Philharmonic Sonoma, and Beethoven’s Ninth, Verdi’s Requiem, and other works with the Santa Rosa Symphony.
During the past decade the chorus has been invited to sing in the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall in New York, and the Vatican.
Previous Music Directors
- Chester Beck 1934-1966
- Harry Meyn 1966-1968
- Algin Hurst 1968-1969
- Louis Lewis 1969-1972
- Dr Curtis Sprenger 1972-1977
- Victoria Kincaid 1977-1979 (first and only woman conductor)
- Dan Earl 1979-1986
- Don Andrews 1986-1987
- John Hiestand 1987-1988
- Barry Hunt 1988-1992
- Lloyd Elliot 1992-2000
- Dan Earl 2000-present