San Antonio Chamber Choir News

SACC is so excited to announce our MacPherson Prize winner: Dr. Christoper Aspaas!  Dr. Aspaas serves as Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music at TCU. He received his Ph.D. in Choral Music Education at The Florida State University in Tallahassee, his M.M. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, and his B.M. in Voice Performance from St. Olaf. At TCU, Christopher leads the Concert Chorale, TCU’s flagship mixed ensemble, as well as the Frog Corps, TCU’s premier male vocal ensemble. He also teaches coursework in basic conducting, choral conducting, choral literature, and advanced choral conducting and oversees the graduate choral conducting program. His travels as a guest conductor, clinician, adjudicator, and lecturer have taken Christopher all over the United States as well as Canada, Germany, South Korea, and the Sultanate of Oman. Christopher has produced more than forty arrangements and compositions for mixed, men's, an...

The San Antonio Chamber Choir is awarding its MacPherson Prize this fall which recognizes excellence in choral conducting by an educator or professional choral conductor in Texas! The MacPherson Prize was created in honor of SACC's founding director Scott MacPherson, who built a legacy of choral conducting in South Texas during his 9 year tenure with the San Antonio Chamber Choir. Let's take a look back at our first MacPherson Prize Winner--Dr. Stephen Holcomb! Dr. Holcomb is a native of Waco, Texas, and holds BME and MM degrees from Baylor University and a DMA in Conducting from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Since 1988, he has been on the music faculty of Dallas Baptist University as Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities.   We caught up with Dr. Holcomb this past week and got the chance to ask him a few questions about his life, his work, and his advice to other conductors.  Here's what he had to say: ______________...

SACC is so excited to welcome our new Executive Director, Roland Barrera! Hi Roland!!! Roland is a  native South Texas baritone who grew up in Converse.  He attended Judson High School in San Antonio and sang in choirs directed by SACC Vice President Kay Sherrill.  For college, he went to  Texas State University School of Music and sang in the Texas State Chorale, during which he participated in a choir tour to South Africa, one of Roland's fondest musical memories.  He completed school in 2012 and worked as the Box Office Coordinator for the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts from 2014 to 2016.  He then worked as the Office Manager and Concierge for Conspirare gaining valuable experience in non-profit arts management.  Roland currently lives in Austin where he serves as the Director of the Chancel Choir at Tarrytown United Methodist Church and also sings with the Conspirare Symphonic Choir.  Tell us about yourself, Roland! What is your p...

The San Antonio Chamber Choir (SACC) is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of part-time Executive Director for our vibrant and growing arts organization. Executive Director Position: The Executive Director for SACC reports directly to the Board of Directors and works in tandem with the Artistic Director. This person is responsible for institutional advancement, initiating and implementing major programmatic improvements, fundraising strategies required to achieve organizational goals and to ensure a culture of sustaining philanthropy for the organization.This foundational role helps to ensure SACC fulfills its mission to engage audiences in extraordinary musical experiences through world-class choral performances and recordings. Position Duties: Fundraising Leadership  Lead and guide, in partnership with Board members, all fundraising plans and activities  Assess and evaluate existing strategies and solicit new funding sources...

SACC is delighted to welcome a new Alto to the roster: Rachel Lake!  Rachel will be joining us for this weekend's Psalms in Song concert ! Tell us about yourself, Rachel! I was born overseas in The Netherlands and my family moved to Houston when I was very young. I came to San Antonio to attend Trinity University and received a double major in Business and Music. I loved San Antonio so much that I decided to stay for good! I work in data analytics full-time and I’m also an alto section leader at First Presbyterian Church downtown. I’m also a bit of a crazy cat lady, so there’s that. Do you play any other instruments? I’ve taken several years of piano lessons, and I can get by on the guitar and the ukulele. I even picked up the violin for a year in college (a very humbling experience, that one- major props to violinists). What's your most valuable lesson you ever learned in voice lessons or choir? For choir, it’s all about the ensemble as a whole. You can...

Anna Osterman, Soprano, has sung with SACC for 4 seasons and we're thrilled to be able to welcome her again for both our "A Spiritual Awakening" concert TODAY Saturday Jan. 13 and our "Psalms in Song" concert next weekend! Tell us about yourself, Anna! I am a San Antonio native and  have loved music for as long as I can remember!   I come from a musical family as well--my dad was an all state trumpet player and my mom plays the piano beautifully! Choir was always my niche (I’m not coordinated enough for most instruments!).   I went to high school in Northside ISD where  I was a 3-year all-stater, was involved in musicals, and helped with an elementary honor choir.  I also sang for my church; I basically did anything that came my way!   I graduated from O’Connor High School in 2005 and from there braved the West Texas winds to attend Texas Tech University in Lubbock.  At Tech I was a member of the University Choir which provi...