We are thrilled to be in our 18th season! As the premier chorus for children and youth in the Greater Sacramento area, we produce our own concerts each year and are also requested to perform in community events. The California Firefighters Association, the Sacramento Capitol Rotunda, Folsom Lake Symphony at the Harris Center Performing Arts Center, the Placer Pops Chorale, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and the Crescent City Choral Festival in New Orleans represent only some of the wonderful venues and opportunities our singers have been able to experience in recent years.
The Northern California Youth Chorus was founded in 2008 by Artistic Director, Judy Britts; her goal was to fill a void of children singing in a community choir in the Placer County area. What began as one choir grew to four levels: Training, Intermediate and Advanced children’s choirs, along with an ensemble for high school women. We now draw students from Auburn to Elk Grove, Lincoln to El Dorado Hills, and many cities in between. The singers are making lifelong friends whom they would never have met had it not been for their love of singing.
Beyond learning to work with their choir peers, the youth have had many opportunities to work with other musicians in the region. Past projects/concerts include collaborations with Dr. Beverly Wesner Hoehn, harp, and Anita Fetsch-Felix, violin, in a concert which included a piece for children’s choir, harp, and violin. Other highlights include performing with the Pamela Hayes Classical Ballet and the Folsom Lake Symphony in "The Nutcracker", Ethan Bortnick at the Harris Center for the Arts, sharing the stage with David Benoit at Three Stages as the kid's choir for "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown," and a performance of John Rutter's "Mass of the Children", with Chanteuses, a local women's choir, and a chamber orchestra. The children's chorus released its first album, "Child of Tomorrow," a collection of lullabies.
Creating lifelong singers involves training the voice, understanding the music they sing, and giving them confidence to sing in multiple parts. Our different levels provide for growth for each singer.
TRAINING CHOIRS: The primary goal for our youngest NCYC singers is that they enjoy their experience of learning to sing. Through singing, activities, and games, they learn the basic skills of reading music, the vocal skills appropriate for their age, and the steps to becoming a confident performer. There are two choirs at this level: Primo Voce and Intermezzo. The desired outcome for all training is for singers to progress to the next level.
PERFORMING CHOIRS: Our performance groups are an advanced children's choir, Bel Canto, and a high school women's ensemble, Bella Voce. These singers meet for two hours per week to rehearse as well as participate in our music theory program. Skills are developed in vocal production, breath control, and in creating a pure head tone for bel canto singing. Music theory training includes sight reading skills, rhythm performance, and musical terminology. Both groups perform repertoire from a variety of styles and languages. The high school ensemble performed at Carnegie Hall, New York City in 2017 and 2019, and the advanced choir at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 2025. The choirs have toured to Oregon, Los Angeles, performed at the Pacific International Children's Choral Festival, and have toured internationally to England, Wales, and Prague.
The Board of Directors, donors, and staff are passionate about continuing the excellence that our chorus provides children and youth in the greater Sacramento area.