Join more than 18,000 students, teachers, and families as they collaborate with professional musicians from the Chorale to learn more about music.

Founded by the Master Chorale Associates in 1989, the Festival brings together more than 25 schools and 900 students for a day of singing under the baton of Music Director Grant Gershon.

The Festival includes a year-long mentoring process between the choir directors and the Master Chorale’s Music Director. Participating ensembles prepare the Festival selections on their own throughout the year. In the spring, students attend an area rehearsal where they rehearse the selections with fellow students as well as participate in a masterclass facilitated by members of the LAMC Chamber Singers. On the Festival Day, all participating ensembles arrive at the Walt Disney Concert Hall where they perform the selections as a massed chorus of voices. Participating ensembles may also audition to be featured in the Showcase of Choirs, where they are featured center stage to an audience of their peers.

NEW: This year we are excited to announce the commission of a new work by award-winning composer, Ricky Ian Gordon, to be given its world premiere at Walt Disney Concert Hall for the 20th Anniversary of the High School Choir Festival.

2009 High School Choir Festival Repertoire

• Prayer, Ricky Ian Gordon
• Gloria from Messa di Gloria, Puccini
• The Word Was God, Rosephayne Powell
• Hallelujah, Amen from Judas Macabbeus, Handel
• Quién Fuera Como El Jazmín, Carlos Guastavino

2009 High School Choir Festival Participants

• Agoura High School, Agoura Hills
• Arroyo High School, El Monte
• Baldwin Park High School, Baldwin Park
• Bellflower High School, Bellflower
• Birmingham High School, Van Nuys
• California High School, Whittier
• Chadwick School, Palos Verdes Peninsula
• Charter Oak High School, Covina
• Covina High School, Covina
• El Camino Real High School, Woodland Hills
• Fullerton Union High School, Fullerton
• Glendale High School, Glendale
• Glendora High School, Glendora
• Granada Hills Charter High School, Granada Hills
• Grant High School, Valley Glen
• John Marshall Sr. High School, Los Angeles
• Lakewood High School, Lakewood
• Louisville High School, Woodland Hills
• Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach
• Montebello High School, Montebello
• Norwalk High School, Norwalk
• Providence High School, Burbank
• San Gabriel High School, San Gabriel
• South High School, Torrance
• Sylmar High School, Sylmar
• Taft High School, Woodland Hills
• West Torrance High School, Torrance