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$20,000 Goal
Vision: The vision of the Davis Chorale is to enhance the lives of its community, audience, and members by performing great choral literature that reflects the diversity of human experience and culture. We do so in the belief that experiencing beautiful choral music elevates the spirit.
Chorale History: The Davis Community Chorale is the largest community-member vocal performance group in Davis, California. We are currently celebrating 45 years of singing in community. The Davis Community Chorale was founded by Rachel Day Kessler (1936 - 2022) in 1978 as the Davis Chorale, to provide an opportunity for adults to sing sacred and secular classical choral literature. Our current Artistic Director is Alison Skinner.
The Davis Chorale distinguishes itself from other local groups in that community members perform great choral works for community members. It is truly Davis's chorus. The Chorale fulfills its mission by giving concerts for both paid and free admission, and by singing in open venues to broaden its scope and reach people not likely to otherwise hear classical music.
In recent years, membership has grown to 60 - 80 singers, and in 2012, the Chorale became an independent, registered non-profit organization. In addition to major concerts, members of the Chorale perform approximately 10-12 outreach events a year, singing at senior living facilities, ArtAbout Davis, Davis Farmer's Market, and the Capitol Rotunda. The Chorale's service area is the town of Davis and its surrounding county land and towns.
New Ventures: As of 2022, we are thrilled to have added the Davis Youth Choir (DYC) under the nonprofit umbrella of the Davis Chorale. In 2025 we re-branded that umbrella organization to be called "Davis Sings!" to house bout the Davis Choral and DYC. DYC helps fill a growing need for choral music opportunities for youth in Davis. Serving young singers up to ninth grade with treble voices, this choir has both an open membership group and a second ensemble for which young singers may audition. Davis Youth Choir performs a variety of musical genres while learning musicianship and life skills along the way. We are inspired about this new partnership and eagerly anticipate the ways this collaboration will benefit the arts culture of Davis. By taking on this new program, the Davis Chorale is providing essential musical experience to young people and building a foundation for vocal arts and music into the future. To donate to the Davis Youth Choir, please visit their dedicated BigDOG page and make your donation with them directly.
Need: To fulfill our mission, the Chorale must be financially solvent and must continually increase its audience and donor base. This will ensure that a dedicated, quality group of musicians make up the Chorale, its instrumentalists and soloists. This will enable the Chorale to draw a large audience and a committed following. It will also establish the Chorale as the chorus of the Davis community.
By performing great choral literature, the Davis Chorale is dedicated to enhancing the lives of the community, its audience and its members, in the belief that music elevates the spirit.
The Davis Community Chorale is committed to offering high quality and diverse choral music to Davis and the surrounding communities. The major performances—typically twice a year—are held at our local performance center. Funding required to put on our major concerts includes:
• Salaries for our Artistic Director, Accompanist, and Director and Assistant for Davis Youth Chorus (ongoing throughout the year). Salary for our Chorale Manager.
• Rental for rehearsal space.
• Rental for performance space.
• Depending upon the program, payment for professional orchestral accompaniment.
• Performance costs for printing publicity flyers, programs, postage, and other media advertising.
The Davis Chorale also relies on additional requirements for its viability and sustainability:
• Technical Support ($3,000-$4,000): Payment for expert services and basic online listening and recording equipment for some members is necessary now.
• Other administrative costs, such as rental for a storage space for our extensive music collection, insurance fees, etc.
Long-term Goals:
• We would like to find and/or develop a performance space in Davis with an Organ.
The Davis Chorale Board makes every effort to minimize costs while maintaining equitable payment for our musical staff. Chorale members pay dues, and the income we receive from ticket sales helps to offset costs.
We greatly appreciate your financial contributions! It allows us to bring you beautiful choral music and to expand our repertoire.
Davis Community Chorale
ADEI: Access, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Statement
As a major arts organization within our community, we are committed to racial equality not only with our membership demographic but also through the music we create and share with our audiences.
• We believe that having an expansive range of members with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and skills can only enhance our development as a cohesive entity and strengthen our ability to continue to provide music that elevates the spirit.
• While we do not officially record the specific races or ethnic backgrounds or nationalities of our members, we currently have members of the following groups represented: American Indian, African American, Hispanic and Caucasian among others.
• We actively recruit from all areas and are working to eliminate any identified barriers to membership within our organization. To this end we have instituted a sliding scale payment of dues for those who are financially challenged.
• In order to share a diverse program encompassing many ethnicities, we regularly perform works by composers of color and sing in many different languages.
Organization name
Davis Community Chorale - A Program of Davis Sings
1978
Mission Category
Arts, Culture & Humanities
Operating Budget
$0-$50,000
Organization Need
Funding: Unrestricted, Technology, Space: Office or Other, Funding: Program
Demographics Served
Seniors, Youth & Children, General population
Local Counties Served
Yolo
Equity Statement
Equity Statement
Address
216 F St. #45Davis, CA, US
Yolo, CA, US
Sacramento, CA, US