Humboldt Chorale

The Humboldt Chorale is a choral ensemble with over a half-century of history and tradition. Founded by Professor Emeritus Dr. Leland Barlow (who still sings with the group), the ensemble explores a wide variety of choral literature, from Medieval to Present-Day, Sacred and Secular, Western and Eastern-Influenced, traditional to cutting-edge. The membership of the ensemble includes both students and community members, and regularly numbers between 85 and 125 singers. In addition to at least one concert in the Fall and Spring, the Chorale also serves as the host ensemble for the Annual Community Christmas Concert. A holiday tradition over 50 years in the making, the Christmas Concert features both Humboldt State's Chorale and University Singers, and, depending on the year, the HSU Brass Choir, the Arcata-McKinleyville High School Orchestra, and singers from Arcata Christian School and Arcata High School.

Under the direction of Don Cushman, the Chorale usually performs concerts of shorter choral works, but has also collaborated on large-scale works and projects: Spring 1999 saw the Chorale with the Eureka Symphony in performances of Haydn's Missa in angustiis (the "Lord Nelson" Mass); in the Spring of 2000, the ensemble performed as part of the HSU Opera Workshop's "The Splendor and Spectacle of Grand Opera," a large-scale staged production of scenes from Giacomo Puccini's La Boheme, Georges Bizet's Carmen, and Richard Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurnburg. Future projects promise a continued dedication to choral variety and diversity, more large-scale works with orchestra, as well as other multi-ensemble, and even interdepartmental and multimedia collaborations