BEYOND MARIN
New for 2023- Marin Girls Chorus has been accepted as a participant in the prestigious Pacific International Choral Festival (picfest for short). Our Bel Cantos, Chantons and Descants are all eligible to participate. Read more about picfest here.
Participation in choral festivals, travel and tours are important aspects of our program for middle and high school singers. In recent years we have sung at the Crescent City Choral Festival in New Orleans (2016), Pacific International Children's Choral Festival in Eugene (2017), The First International Texas Choral Festival (2018), Disneyland and Hearst Castle (2019), and Carnegie Hall in New York in 2022.
Here are some highlights from our New York Trip to Carnegie Hall in June! You can also read about our experience in the Marin IJ!
Participation in choral festivals, travel and tours are important aspects of our program for middle and high school singers. In recent years we have sung at the Crescent City Choral Festival in New Orleans (2016), Pacific International Children's Choral Festival in Eugene (2017), The First International Texas Choral Festival (2018), Disneyland and Hearst Castle (2019), and Carnegie Hall in New York in 2022.
Here are some highlights from our New York Trip to Carnegie Hall in June! You can also read about our experience in the Marin IJ!
Going further back, the top levels of chorus have traveled to Vienna (2000) and Canada (2002) to participate in international choral festivals. The group has sung on a shipboard cruise (1997), four times at Disneyland (1996, 2006, 2011, and 2019), and for audiences in various California cities as well as New York City (2005 and 2015) and Eugene, OR (2013). On the 1996 trip to L.A., the choir participated in The Children's Celebration Choral Festival, performing at Disneyland and Crystal Cathedral with more than three hundred other singers from the United States. In July 2008 we were participants in the Pacific Rim Choral Festival in Hawaii. Eight days of choral workshops, cultural events and sightseeing tours culminated in a magnificent concert with 300 singers from around the country at the Blaisdell Concert Hall, where they performed authentic ethnic choral literature from Pacific Rim countries. In July 2013 the group attended the Pacific International Children's Choral Festival on the University of Oregon campus singing with and for other choirs under the direction of guest conductor Henry Leck.
MGC was honored to receive fellow travelers when it hosted Česká Lípa Children's Choir from the Czech Republic, in the fall of 2004. We have joined voices in concert with the traveling American Boychoir (2004) and the Pacific Boychoir Academy (2005).
Just about every year, our middle and high school groups attend children's choral festivals in the greater Bay Area—Berkeley, Orinda, San Francisco, and Marysville. Four years in a row MGC participated in the Napa Valley Choral Classic Festival in Napa, CA, receiving high honors (“Unanimous Superior” in 2010!)
In July 2012, MGC again participated in the Golden Gate International Choral Festival in Berkeley, CA, and earned two Bronze medals and one Silver medal in the competitions. The week marked a highlight of our choral experiences, as we sang with and for 18 choirs from all over the world, including Denmark, Germany, Australia, Indonesia, China, Democratic Republic of Georgia, Canada, Honduras, and Lithuania! We hosted a choir from Canada, making friends and forging bonds we hope will never break.
In addition to our tours, performances for varied audiences within our county remains a top priority. Marin Girls Chorus has performed for the Marin Human Race, the Italian Street Painting Festival, Marin County Fair, Marin Symphony Candlelight concerts, Celebrate Arts in Education, West Marin's Las Posadas, for private weddings, Rotary Clubs, for numerous civic and community events, and just about every retirement home in Marin County.