NEWS
Lifting Voices, Uplifting Lives
March 13, 2024 – Cantare in the News
Oakland choir brings sense of community for adults and the gift of music to kids
On Oscars Sunday, while many people were at home watching the red carpet ahead of the awards ceremony, the singers of Cantare Con Vivo’s (to sing with life) Cantare Chorale adult choir gathered at the hall adjacent to the First Presbyterian Church in Oakland. The 100-voice choir was rehearsing for their upcoming concert to celebrate the Chorale’s 25th anniversary. The Sunday, March 17 concert will pay homage to American composers.
David Morales has been Cantare’s conductor since the organization started in 1987 to provide church choir singers the opportunity to perform non-Christian music. In 1999, Morales started Cantare Chorale’s symphonic choir.
At the recent rehearsal, the room was filled with adult singers of various ages. One of the youngest, Dayana Merino, started with Cantare as a child and came up through the children’s program. Morales said that one of the oldest singers is in his 80s….
March 12, 2024 – Cantare in the News
Cantare Celebrates 25 Years of Its Chorale
“Hang on, hang on. You’re still too score-bound,” said conductor David Morales as he stood in front of 100 adult singers at a recent Sunday afternoon rehearsal. Cantare Chorale was practicing Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms for the choir’s upcoming 25th-anniversary concerts.
After a few more minutes on the Bernstein, Morales moved on to an arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and then “Music Down in My Soul,” a gospel song that got the room rocking as the singers clapped and swayed to the music. “Oh yes, I got peace in my soul. Oh yes, I got joy in my heart,” they sang. The room resonated with sound.
Cantare is an intergenerational Oakland-based choral organization that provides learning and performance opportunities for people ages 4 to 80. Morales founded Cantare in 1987….
October 12, 2023 – Annual Report
Cantare’s 2022-23 Annual Report
Cantare's 2022-23 Annual Report is now available. With leadership from our Board of Directors, hard work from our dedicated staff, support from our foundation partners and the generosity of our donors, we presented six diverse adult concerts and expanded our Children's & Youth programming, providing quality, inclusive, equitable, tuition-free music education to over 3,000 Oakland students.
Thank you for your support and for being a part of our Cantare Community!
May 23, 2023 – Press Release
Conway Tan-Gregory Joins Choral Executive Leadership Academy
Conway Tan-Gregory, Cantare's Director of Music Education, has been offered a place in Chorus America’s inaugural Choral Executive Leadership Academy, an intensive leadership development program for choir executives of color. The Leadership Academy focuses on building administrative skillsets required of C-suite leaders, with specific attention to unique challenges that these leaders face in predominantly White institutions, in order to create career pathways to executive leadership. Through this program, Chorus America aims to directly contribute to increasing the racial diversity of executive directors and other administrative leaders in the choral field
Click here to read more about CELA, Conway, and the other participants.
April 12, 2023 – Announcement
Cantare to Lead Chorus America Panel
Julie Haydon, Cantare’s Director of Children’s & Youth Choirs, and Conway Tan-Gregory, Director of Music Education, will lead the panel “Building Meaningful School Partnerships” at the Chorus America conference in San Francisco this June. They will be joined by long-time supporters and partners of Cantare from the Oakland Unified School District in discussion of best practices and steps for establishing new partnerships.
January 3, 2023 – Announcement
Cantare Awarded Two California Arts Grants
Cantare is pleased to announce we have been awarded two multi-year grants by the California Arts Council. Over 2023–2024, Cantare will receive $40,000 as part of the Artists In Schools grant for in-school music education and $40,000 as part of the Creative Youth Development grant for after-school music programs. This will support a variety of expenses in Cantare's classrooms and after-school choirs, including salaries for our highly skilled directors and teaching artists.
December 15, 2022 – Annual Report
Cantare’s 2021-22 Annual
Report
With guidance from our Board of Directors, strong leadership from our dedicated staff, support from our foundation partners and the generosity of you, our donors, we continue lifting voices and uplifting lives. While we were still dealing with significant challenges last year, due to the pandemic, Cantare continued to grow revenue and programming. We are proud of the work we did and continue to do providing quality, inclusive, equitable, tuition-free classroom music education, after-school choirs and a summer music camp for underserved children and youth. Our adult choirs not only perform beautiful concerts, but they also provide community for our singers and build community in the places we perform in Oakland and throughout the East Bay.
Thank you for your support and for being a part of our Cantare Community!
May 13, 2022 – Cantare in the News
David Morales Receives Jefferson Award
For more than 50 years, David has impacted thousands of children and adults as a conductor, teacher and a visionary community leader. Through KCBS/KPIX, Jefferson Awards recognize Bay Area individuals who build communities with inspiration and innovation, and contribute to a better future for those around them. It is a great recognition of David’s lasting community impact and the Cantare mission of fostering a diverse community of compassion and understanding across generational, cultural, and economic boundaries through the beauty and power of choral music.
April 7, 2022 – Announcement
Cantare Honored with Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award
We are thrilled to announce that Cantare has been selected as the 2022 recipient of Chorus America's Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award!
This national award, established in 2014, honors the life and achievements of educator, conductor, and arranger Brazeal Dennard. It recognizes organizations whose work builds on Dennard's commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and furthering African American choral traditions and other diverse choral music traditions through performance, research, or the creation of new compositions of significance….
January 27, 2022 – Press Release
Cantare to Receive $100,000 NEA Grant
National Endowment for the Arts Awards as part of the American Rescue Plan
Oakland—Cantare, an Oakland-based, non-profit community choral organization, is pleased to announce they have been awarded an American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to help the arts and cultural sector recover from the pandemic. Cantare is approved to receive $100,000 over two years. They may use this grant to fund operations and facilities, purchase health and safety supplies, and engage in marketing and promotional efforts to encourage attendance and participation….
