San Francisco Choral Artists

Mission: San Francisco Choral Artists, a chamber choir of the highest quality, fosters new American choral music and presents imaginative and emotionally engaging programming of diverse repertoire, with emphasis on works by living composers.

About: Winner of the 2019-2020 American Prize in choral performance, San Francisco Choral Artists (SFCA) are a Bay Area chamber choir with a mission to foster new American choral music and to present eclectic, imaginative programs consisting of both new works and repertoire spanning 600 years in performances of uncompromisingly high quality. We are now in our 38th season, and the 28th under the leadership of Artistic Director Magen Solomon.

Each season, SFCA offers three concert sets consisting of three live performances in San Francisco, Oakland, Palo Alto and other Bay Area communities. They have collaborated with a diverse range of musicians, including jazz violinist Mads Tolling, harpsichordist Jillon Stoppels Dupree, the SF Chamber Orchestra, the Alexander String Quartet, The Whole Noyse, the Galax Quartet, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and the Sonos Handbell Ensemble. SFCA has also performed with the Chamber Choir of the Academy of Arts in Berlin (Germany), and the Ateneo Chamber Singers (Philippines).

SFCA supports the work and careers of composers through a number of ongoing projects. We have premiered nearly 300 works and won the Chorus America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming in both 2012 and 2015, affirming our reputation for eclectic programming and world-class performances.

The fostering of local composers and new choral music in general is a key element of SFCA’s DNA. We provide a high-quality performance forum to support composers at all career levels. 

Through our Roger Nixon Living Music Initiative, we offer 6 formal programs to this end:

Composer-in-Residence

to increase the visibility and support of the many talented and prolific choral composers living in the San Francisco Bay Area

Composer-Not-In-Residence

to expand SFCA’s reach and increase the diversity of the music fostered and performed by the Choral Artists

New Voices Project

Competition for American composers under age 30 

SFCA+1

to commission new music for chamber choir + instruments 

Wild Card Program

to perform new works by composers whom SFCA admires 

Composers Invitational

a periodic call for scores