Berkeley Community Chorus & Orchestra

BCCO was founded by Eugene Jones in 1966 under the auspices of the Berkeley Adult Education Program. Through persistence, charisma, much talent and devotion he realized his dream of creating a chorus of non-auditioned singers and an orchestra drawn from the community which together would perform the masterworks of Western music for a local audience that could attend free concerts. For over twenty years, Eugene, the first black conductor of a major Bay Area chorus and orchestra, guided the group, bringing to our community glorious music (which often featured his superb bass voice) and many joyful, healing experiences for both singers and audiences. Sadly, Eugene died in the fall of 2003. Many long-time BCCO members sang at his memorial service. BCCO is now an independent non-profit organization funded by tuition of chorus members and donations from the chorus and the general community. The goals of BCCO remain steadfast: to offer everyone in the community the opportunity to hear and sing great choral music. Arlene Sagan has been our Music Director since 1988. Among the works we performed in recent concerts were Bach's B Minor Mass, Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, and the world premiere of The Children's Hour by Berkeley composer Julian White. Our standing-room-only performances of Verdi's Requiem and Brahms' A German Requiem brought heartfelt bravos from many of our fans. We are proud to help support fine music in the Bay Area by providing pay to all of our orchestra members and our soloists. In addition to providing free concerts of great choral works, BCCO serves the community in other ways. We occasionally sing for Bread and Roses, an organization that brings live music to people in institutions who are unable to attend concerts. Last spring, we had a fantastic Saturday workshop led by the nationally recognized singer, percussionist and producer, Linda Tillery. At our weekend retreat at Cazadero Music Camp this fall, Terrence Kelly, the talented director of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir, lead us on a fantastic and energetic exploration of gospel music. For next year, we are planning a Bay Area choral competition in which we will perform the winning new short pieces for chorus and orchestra. BCCO also has a Chamber Chorus of dedicated singers who perform madrigals and other a capella pieces at retirement and nursing homes and at civic functions such as the Solano Stroll, and the Farmers' Market.