Since 1962, the Santa Clara Chorale has provided singers and audiences alike the opportunity to experience great choral music ranging from the masterworks of Beethoven and Mozart, to the challenging contemporary music of Eric Whitacre and Libby Larsen. Stressing the diversity of traditions, they also sing jazz, spirituals, gospel, Broadway, popular music, and world music. The Chorale performs three concerts each year under direction of Scot Hanna-Weir. Concerts are held in the Santa Clara Mission Church.
The San Jose Symphonic Choir, a volunteer choral organization, has performed masterworks and contemporary pieces in San José and the South Bay Area since its founding in 1924. The Choir typically consists of about 100 singers, and has been under the inspiring leadership of Maestro Leroy Kromm since 1985.
San Jose Choral Project is a 42 voice ensemble under the direction of founder Dan Hughes. They are highly regarded for their adventuresome program and high calibre performances. The Choral Project’s vision is to transform and heal through music and words. As a diverse community of artists, our voices promote inclusion, representation, and compassion, both in programming and as a fundamental value in the way we do business.
Schola Cantorum seeks to connect the Silicon Valley community with the wonders of choral music through outstanding live performances. Schola Cantorum invites talented adult singers of all musical and cultural backgrounds to audition. Singers should be able to sight-read and learn their parts on their own. Some choral experience is preferred. Rehearsals are held in Los Altos. Buddy James, artistic director.
Convivium Under the leadership of founding director Eric Tuan, twenty-four singers bring passionate performances of adventurous, thought-provoking repertoire to Bay Area audiences. Their quarterly concert programs present music from every corner of the choral world, while also exploring contemporary social issues like LGBT identity, war, and globalization. They also present quarterly Compline services of early music at Stanford Memorial Church.
Peninsula Women's Chorus This all treble choral group performs a broad spectrum of music in its original language, sung from memory, at the highest level of artistic excellence. The pieces are challenging musically, linguistically, and sometimes emotionally. They often commissioning new works. Dr. Anne K. Hege, Artistic Director.
Silicon Valley Gay Men's Chorus (SVGMC) describes themselves as "...embracing and more openly identifying ourselves as a singing group made up of out, gay, and proud men." They have performed at nearly every City of San José annual Pride flag-raising ceremony. SVGMC is also honored to have performed the national anthem at several sporting events including the San Francisco Giants, and they are the first LGBTQ+ organization to do so at San Jose Earthquakes and San Jose Giants games.
West Valley Light Opera produces three musicals each year, using the Saratoga Civic Theater as their performance venue. They offer half price tickets to high school & college students 20 minutes before each performance.
South Bay Musical Theatre (formerly Saratoga Drama Group) has presented top-notch musical theater to the South Bay for 45 years. Each season features three fully staged productions with live orchestra.
Sunnyvale Community Players, established in 1969, produces 4-5 shows each year. Open to all local communities. SCP serves three distinct age ranges: Junior: 8-18 years, Young Adult: 13-26 years, and Adult: 18+ years.
San Jose Playhouse, located at 3Below Theaters on Second Street in downtown San Jose, strives to inspire, stimulate, and entertain diverse audiences in the greater San Jose community by producing musicals and theatre education programs of the highest professional standards. For 2022, they are mounting five productions. They also offer Theater classes for both adults and children, as well as a "Resident Young Artist's Program".
Foot Hill Music Theater On the campus of Foot Hill College, this program offers 3-4 productions a year, with auditions open to the public. If you are interested, they also offer excellent theater classes to hone your theatrical skills such as acting, stage makeup, script analysis, stage combat, etc.
Los Altos Stage (formerly Bus Barn Stage) is a professionally managed, community based theatre company that serves Los Altos and the greater South-Bay area. Their mission is to engage the community and the artists in a shared experience of intimate, professional-quality theatre. They produce 5-6 stage shows each year, with at least one being a musical.
Palo Alto Players has been continuously producing professional quality live theatre in Palo Alto since 1931. Based at the Lucie Stern Theater since 1933, Palo Alto Players produces a season of comedies, dramas, classics and musicals from September to June. A beloved cultural treasure of the peninsula, audiences and artists come from all over the Bay Area to be a part of Palo Alto Players’ productions.
Hillbarn Theatre, located in Foster City, is the sixth oldest continuously operating amateur theater company in the nation. A large, thriving community theater, in 2022 they mounted four mainstage adult musicals, three dramatic plays and four youth musicals. Their production excellence is recognized by receiving a Theater Critics Circle Award, three Dean Goodman Awards for Artistic Excellence, and being accepted at the Edinburgh Theatre Festival. Check their website for their annual audition date.
Landmark Musical Theatre, is located at 533 Sutter Street, between Mason and Powell in San Francisco. They grew out of Santa Clara Players in the South Bay, and in an effort to produce musicals now have moved north into San Francisco. They currently produce three musical productions a year.
San Jose's Lyric Theatre features the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan as a cornerstone of their repertoire. Also featured are works of Victor Herbert, Jacques Offenbach, and classic musical theater productions. Lyric Theatre offers 4 productions each season. In some seasons, one production is a musical.
Opera San Jose founded by Irene Dalis, gives three major productions each year under the supervision of General Director Shawna Lucey. They have a competitive young artist program, and these artists play most of the leading roles. Community singers can audition to be a chorus member or a supernumerary who are paid per performance. They offer student rush tickets at a substantial discount for high school and college students 30 minutes before curtain (student ID required).
Founded in 1956, Palo Alto's West Bay Opera presents three major productions each year, auditioning for principal roles in May of the previous year. See their website for audition information.
Livermore Valley Opera was founded in 1992, and presents fully-staged operas in the spring and fall at the Bankhead Theater. The theater is located in the Livermore / Tri-Valley area.
Verismo Opera is a cooperative opera group in Vallejo, that includes singers, orchestral musicians and artists who collaborate to present imaginative, low-cost but quality opera productions in a variety of settings in the San Francisco Bay Area. Most operas are sung in their original language, and are usually triple cast in an effort to give lots of singers a chance to participate.