Department of Music
Choral Ensembles
Dr. Cari Earnhart, Director of Choral Activities
The Fresno State Choral program maintains an active performing profile within the Fresno community and throughout the Central Valley. The choirs present five main stage concerts each year. Our ensembles, composed of students of all majors, have been received enthusiastically by audiences at home and abroad. We explore a wide variety of repertoire and regularly collaborate with other ensembles on and off campus. In addition, the choral program annually hosts a the Invitational Choral Festival each fall, attracting more than 60 choirs, that has featured conducting luminaries Jerry McCoy, Rodney Eichenberger, Eph Ehly, Edith Copley, Jing Ling-Tam, and Z. Randall Stroope.
It is also credited with organizing the first California Real Men Sing Festival, now SOUND OFF!, each fall for middle school and high school tenor/bass voices. This event that annually fills the concert hall while inspiring similar spin-off events around the state. In the Spring, the choral program hosts Voices in Song, a festival for Treble Choirs.
For more information about the Fresno State Choral Program contact Dr. Cari Earnhart (cearnhart@csufresno.edu).
Fall 2023 Choral Festivals
SOUND OFF! A Festival for Tenor-Bass Voices – September 14-15, 2023 – Timothy C. Takach, clinician
Invitational Choral Festival – October 18-20, 2023 - Dr. Lynne Gackle, clinician
Fall 2023 Choral Performances
Fall Choral Concert
2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 22 at the Fresno State Concert Hall
Holiday Choral Concert
2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Fresno State Concert Hall
Fresno State Concert Choir (Music 103CC)
Dr. Cari Earnhart, Conductor
The Fresno State Concert Choir is an auditioned mixed ensemble of 55-65 singers. Comprised
of majors from throughout the university community, it is one of the premier singing
ensembles at Fresno State. We welcome and depend on students from all programs of
study to create a diverse choral community. The Concert Choir maintains an active
performing schedule on and off campus presenting four main season concerts each year.
Auditions are open to all students and held at the beginning of each semester.
The ensemble explores a wide variety of repertoire from a cappella to works with instrumental ensemble or orchestra. The Concert Choir has premiered numerous works, including David Mair's "Not One More," Kevin Memley’s “Magnificat” and Misuzu McManus’s "Three Japanese Folksongs" (recorded on the Santa Barbara Press Octavos series).
In 2022, the Concert Choir had the distinct honor of being selected as a performing ensemble for the California All-State Music Educators Conference (CASMEC). In addition to performing throughout the Central Valley, the group collaborates frequently with the Fresno State Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Orchestra and other ensmebles both on our campus and from throughout the broader Fresno community.
Members of the Concert Choir made an appearance in China in cultural events leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and they performed in Vienna in 2009, Italy in 2011 and England in 2012. The ensemble also provided singers for the Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses traveling show at the William Saroyan Theatre in November 2016 and the Star Wars in Concert traveling show at the Save Mart Center in June 2010.
Auditions are open to all students and held at the beginning of each semester. Concert Choir meets Monday and Wednesday 1:00pm - 2:50pm. Contact Dr. Cari Earnhart (cearnhart@csufresno.edu) for audition details.
Fresno State Chamber Singers (Music 102CS)
Dr. Cari Earnhart, Conductor
The Fresno State Chamber Singers is comprised of 24-32 select musicians from across campus. It is one of the premier singing ensembles at Fresno State. They perform a wide variety of literature from early music to contemporary selections.
The Chamber Singers present four main season concerts each year. In addition to performing on campus, they make frequent guest appearances at school and community events. Their performance credits include conventions, festivals, and even a guest appearance with country-western star Kenny Rogers.
Their performances have included the Monteverdi “Vespro Della Beata Vergine,” the Brahms "Liebeslieder Walzer," and local and world premieres of contemporary music (e.g. works by Dr. Benjamin Boone, Dr. Kenneth Froelich and Brad Hufft's "Prologue" in Fall of 2006).
In April 2017, the Chamber Singers were invited to perform at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the tenure of U.S. Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera. Members of the Chamber Singers have toured Mexico, China, and Europe in recent years.
Auditions are open to all students and held at the beginning of each semester. Chamber Singers meets Tuesday and Thursday 11:00am - 12:15pm. Contact Dr. Cari Earnhart (cearnhart@csufresno.edu) for audition details.
Fresno State Masterworks Chorus (Music 102MW)
Dr. Cari Earnhart, Conductor
Fresno State has a long tradition of partnering with members of the community in a choral setting beginning with Dr. Arthur Huff in 1966. Since that time, Fresno State has played an integral role in the Fresno choral community under the leadership of past conductors Jack Fortner, Phyllis Irwin, Randy McChesney, Leslie Guelker-Cone, Gary Unruh, Mark Bennett and Dr. Anna Hamre. The newly established Masterworks Chorus, under the direction of Dr. Cari Earnhart, continues that tradition with the mission to excite, engage, and inspire diverse audiences; to change lives through the artistry of singing.
The Masterworks Chorus is organized around the study and performance of choral literature appropriate for a large, symphonic choir. It is an auditioned choir open to students, faculty and community members; singers in all voice parts may audition ahead of each season.
All Fresno State students are highly encouraged to seek membership in one of the all-student choral ensembles (Concert Choir, Chamber Singers, or University Singers) to maximize the collegiate choral experience. The Fresno State Masterworks Chorus is, however, an excellent option for additional choral experience, for students who do not need to fulfill a degree requirement, or for those who seek to broaden their contact with major choral works. One may join The Masterworks Chorus as a registered student or as a community member.
Masterworks Chorus meets Tuesdays 7:00pm-9:00pm. For more information contact Dr. Cari Earnhart (cearnhart@csufresno.edu).
Ms. Miranda Barton, Conductor
University Singers is a mixed choral ensemble that includes students of various majors from all across the Fresno State campus and is perfect for both music majors and non-majors.
The ensemble performs 1-2 times each semester and is organized around the study and performance of choral literature and vocal techniques appropriate for a beginning college-level choir.
Universtiy Singers meets Monday and Wednesday 12:00pm - 12:50pm. For more information about joining this ensemble, contact Ms. Miranda Barton (mirandajoyb@mail.fresnostate.edu) or Dr. Cari Earnhart (cearnhart@csufresno.edu).