“We Love To Sing!” That’s the tagline and the underlying motivation of the Sacramento Women’s Chorus. This diverse group of enthusiastic women is gearing up for their spring concert, “Sing Out, Sisters!” which will be presented this Saturday, May 12—just in time for Mothers’ Day. At a recent rehearsal, the thirty women on the risers were relaxed and focused as artistic director Robin Richie ran through the concert selections, offering an occasional comment, correction, or joke. Various members of the chorus stepped forward for a solo, or to take up a drum or violin to add depth to Jane Stave-Viemeister’s piano accompaniment. One lighthearted comedy number dissolved into laughter.

The Sacramento Gay Men’s Chorus delighted their audience with “Glitter”, their 27th annual spring show on Friday evening. The men delivered a generous helping of glitz and glamour from Hollywood to Broadway and beyond in their surprising new performance venue at the California Automobile Museum in Sacramento. Artistic Director Paul Jones, in his final season on the podium, led the men through a solid repertoire featuring the music of gay composers, and the selection meandered from the tender to the raucous to the hilariously campy. Jones will rejoin his chorus on the risers for the coming season. Opening with a medley of show tunes, from “Let Me Entertain You” to the “Broadway Ladies

A remarkable choral collaboration occurred Friday evening. The very talented singers of the Reconciliation Singers Voices of Peace presented an evening of beautiful music in support of Music Partners in Healthcare. They were joined by the Cantus choir of the Sacramento Children’s Chorus. The program was varied and carefully chosen, and the recently restored sanctuary of St. John’s Lutheran Church was a splendid venue for the tonal clarity and delicate harmonies of the beautiful music. Throughout the program, the audience sat spellbound as the healing and uplifting power of music was revealed. Artistic director Lynn Stevens led her chorus of fifth- through ninth-grade singers through a

The Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra returned in triumph to their original home at the Community Center Theater on Saturday night with the third concert of their 16th season, “English Grandeur”. The program was carefully selected by conductor and artistic director Donald Kendrick to showcase the lush and passionate works of two exemplary English composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Sir William Walton. Both men wrote in the lyrical Romantic tradition brought forth into the twentieth century; their work includes operatic, orchestral, and choral music as well as music for the movies. “A Song of Thanksgiving” (originally Thanksgiving for Victory) for narrator, soprano solo, children

Our world is just too complicated sometimes. We are surrounded by politicians, economists, scientists, and religious leaders who dazzle us with conflicting misinformation about how the world works and what our place in it should be. Nothing is clear anymore. It’s really hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Used to be, it was much easier to know who to cheer for. Take, for example, the legend of Robin Hood. The guy was a clear hero, an outlaw who stood up for the poor and downtrodden against the greed and evil of a corrupt government. He outwitted the minions of darkness and brought hope and security to the powerless and exploited peasantry. He was the champion of the 99% in 13t