It was a Saturday night in Midtown Sacramento: The wine flowed, the crowd laughed and talked, the music played and there was even a little karaoke. The crowd of about 200 people was remarkably diverse, even by Midtown standards. One gent wore a cowboy hat, an 88-year-old lady applauded and a young blond guy in tight jeans got up and belted out show tunes by Cole Porter and Rogers and Hammerstein. Tenor Evan Brienza sings Cole Porter accompanied by Don Kendrick.   Then everybody watched a television show in appreciative silence.   The occasion for the unusual party was the premiere of the KVIE-produced documentary about the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra. A scene from the docum

Police ejected a flash mob of hundreds of choral singers tonight from the Roseville Galleria mall. The choral singers, many clad in their Christmas clothes, had been anticipating singing an “impromptu” rendition of the “Hallelujah Chorus” in the food court.  The performance was conceived of by the Sacramento Choral Society and over the last few weeks, word quickly spread via email, Twitter and good old-fashioned word of mouth. As the 7:30 performance time neared, dense traffic in the food court came to a near standstill while singers clutched their sheet music for the 4-minute song. When mall security was unable to redirect the crowd, the Fire Department closed the mall and ushered every

Surrounded by Sacramento Choral Society performers, audience members at the Oct. 30 Cathedral Vespers concert will be able to hear the music as it was originally intended – ringing through a building that optimizes the sound. The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at 11th and K streets will be the venue for the event, and performers will be placed throughout the building for a show that promises quality sound and resonance. “We’re taking full advantage of the space,” said Julie Anne Miller, mezzo-soprano soloist. About 160 performers will be in the chorus, which will be organized in a ring around the audience from the altar to the main doors entering the nave. Miller and her quintet wil

More than $30,000 was recently awarded to six local arts organizations for their innovative ways of staying afloat in the wake of reduced funding and and audiences as the economy took its toll. The grants were awarded as part of a public/private partnership through the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission and the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. “When the economic crisis hit, we had these organizations calling us and saying their doors were going to shut, but they survived,” said Priscilla Enriquez, chief giving officer for the Sacramento Region Community Foundation. “We wanted to acknowledge that fact and learn how they survived.” The six organizations receiving the grants we