Huntington Beach Based Choir Launches Season & Introduces New Board President
by: Eliza Rubenstein
Published: September 25, 2023
LAGUNA HILLS...The Orange County Women’s Chorus (OCWC) unveils our 26th season, ushering in another era of “causing treble!” The chorus welcomes newly elected Board President Katrina Veldkamp, 2023-2024 conducting intern Abigail Sorber, and fourteen new singers. In addition to our regular season, the OCWC remains committed to fostering community engagement, and will join forces with the Orange County Gay Men’s Chorus, MenAlive, for a family-friendly Halloween Concert titled Ghouls Just Wanna Have Fun. We invite you to come hear the sounds of your souls in the sounds of our 26th season.
“Our 25th anniversary season was hugely successful, thanks to our singers, patrons, and donors,” says Veldkamp. “As the new Board President, I am thrilled to continue the OCWC’s long history of excellence as we look toward our next 25 years.”
Veldkamp joined the OCWC in 2018 after relocating to Orange County from LA, and was elected to the Board in 2019. She assumed the role of President on July 1, 2023. She is an attorney with Boutwell Fay, LLP and a double Bruin – she has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a Juris Doctor from UCLA. She and her husband, Mike, live in Irvine.
Save the date and secure your tickets today for OCWC’s 2023-2024 season! “This year’s chorus may be the best we’ve ever had, and we’ve created a season of repertoire that celebrates, comforts, and challenges. We hope our audience members will join us for the whole journey—and we hope we’ll see some of them when we join our friends at MenAlive for a musical Halloween party this fall!” says Artistic Director Eliza Rubenstein.
Dancing Day
Saturday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 17 at 3:00 p.m.
John Rutter’s beloved Dancing Day, performed with harp, anchors our holiday concert of carols and songs for the season!
Arms
Saturday, March 23 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 24 at 3:00 p.m.
Join us for a unique musical meditation on violence, healing, and love.
Wings
Saturday, June 1 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 2 at 3:00 p.m.
Take flight with us as we sing of travel, adventure, and creatures of the sky!
The concerts will take place at St. Wilfrid of York Episcopal Church, 18631 Chapel Lane, Huntington Beach. Tickets may be purchased in advance online at ocwomenschorus.org or at the door. Individual tickets will be on sale November 1, 2023 – or subscribe to the full season today!
Season Subscriptions
Patrons can purchase the entire season and save as much as 33%! Choose one performance for each program to create a subscription. Adult admission for all three concerts is $75; seniors pay $60 and students pay just $30 for all three performances. Season ticket holders enjoy exchange privileges and a discount to the OCWC’s annual fundraising event, “Glass of Cabaret.”
ABOUT
Under the artistic leadership of Eliza Rubenstein since 2000, the Orange County Women’s Chorus has grown from a small group of women brainstorming about singing together to one of the region’s leading choruses. The OCWC has performed at venues including the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, the Irvine Barclay Theatre, Walt Disney Concert Hall’s REDCAT Theater, the 2004, 2012, and 2020 Western Division conferences of the American Choral Directors’ Association, and most recently, Carnegie Hall. The chorus was named a 2014 Outstanding Arts Organization by Arts Orange County and won a prize at the 2015 International Musical Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales. The OCWC has collaborated with ensembles including Bel Canto, MenAlive, the Wooden Floor (formerly the Saint Joseph Ballet), the South Coast Symphony, the Agape Voices of Praise, the All-American Boys’ Chorus, and Men in Blaque.
Eliza Rubenstein, Artistic Director, is also the Director of Choral and Vocal Activities and Chair of the Music Department at Orange Coast College. She currently serves on the Board of the California Choral Directors’ Association as the editor of the award-winning Cantate magazine. She studied choral conducting at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music before moving to California to earn her master’s degree at UC Irvine.
Sarah Hughes, the OCWC’s Assistant Director since 2013, is a 2011 graduate of the Hall-Musco Conservatory of Music at Chapman University in Orange, CA. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in music education with an emphasis in voice and a Master of Arts degree in teaching from Chapman University. Sarah teaches elementary music in the Fountain Valley Unified School District.
Janelle Kim, pianist, received a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree from California State University, Fullerton in piano performance. Besides maintaining a busy private piano studio, she is a staff pianist, vocal coach, and music instructor at Orange Coast College.