Angel City Chorale (ACC) is a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

choir conducted by founder and artistic director Sue Fink. The group consists of 160 singers. It is recognized for its signature blend of musical styles and commitment to community, Angel City Chorale strives to give back to the L.A. community through song, donations, and volunteerism. They perform a selection of musical material including classical,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, and pop. They perform twice seasonally, spring and winter, at both the historic Wilshire United Methodist Church and Immanuel Presbyterian Church. In addition to scheduled performances, Angel City Chorale has performed at venues throughout Los Angeles, including the

Walt Disney Concert Hall The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California, is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center and was designed by Frank Gehry. It was opened on October 24, 2003. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Ave ...

, the

Dolby Theatre The Dolby Theatre (formerly known as the Kodak Theatre) is a live-performance auditorium in the Ovation Hollywood shopping mall and entertainment complex, on Hollywood Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Si ...

, the

Microsoft Theater The Microsoft Theater (formerly Nokia Theatre L.A. Live) is a music and theater venue in downtown Los Angeles, California, at L.A. Live. The theater auditorium seats 7,100 and holds one of the largest indoor stages in the United States. History ...

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

, and the

Shrine Auditorium The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument (No. 139) in 1975, and ...

. Angel City Chorale is a 501(c)(3) California nonprofit public benefit corporation.

Notable performances

In addition to an annual concert series, the choir has performed with the Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra. ACC was the only choir to sing at the

2000 Democratic National Convention The 2000 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial presidential nominating convention for the Democratic Party. The convention nominated Vice President Al Gore for president and Senator Joe Lieberman from Connecticut for vice president. The ...

, performing with artists including

Luther Vandross Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, and

Mary Chapin Carpenter Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

. Other notable performances include singing with

Natasha Bedingfield Natasha Anne Bedingfield (born 26 November 1981) is a British singer and songwriter. Bedingfield released her debut album, '' Unwritten'', in 2004, which contained primarily up-tempo pop songs and was influenced by R&B music. It enjoyed intern ...

and being selected by internationally acclaimed music director and record producer Frank McNamara to appear in an hour-long

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

special, ''The American Tenors'', taped at the Kodak Theatre in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

in 2002. In 2003, Angel City Chorale was one of the first choral groups to perform at the

for a holiday production of ''A Merry Mancini Christmas,'' singing

Henry Mancini Henry Mancini ( ; born Enrico Nicola Mancini, ; April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, pianist and flautist. Often cited as one of the greatest composers in the history of film, he won four Academy Award ...

's arrangements of holiday favorites along with soloists

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

Monica Mancini Monica Jo Mancini (born May 4, 1952) is an American singer and the daughter of composer Henry Mancini. Career Mancini grew up in Northridge, California. Her father, Henry, was a popular, award winning composer and her mother, Virginia, was a si ...

, and

Dianne Reeves Dianne Elizabeth Reeves (born October 23, 1956) is an American jazz singer. Biography Dianne Reeves was born in Detroit, Michigan, into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and h ...

, accompanied by the 77-member Henry Mancini Institute Alumni Orchestra, conducted by Patrick Williams. In December 2005, members of the chorale performed on the ''Hollywood Tree Lighting Celebration at the Grove,'' which aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

. In June 2013, ACC performed the West Coast debut performance of Grammy Award-winning composer

Christopher Tin Christopher Chiyan Tin (born May 21, 1976) is an American composer of art music, often composed for film and video game soundtracks. His work is primarily orchestral and choral, often with a world music influence. He has won two Grammy Awar ...

's classical/world music composition ''

Calling All Dawns ''Calling All Dawns'' is a classical crossover album by Christopher Tin released in 2009. The album won two Grammys at the 53rd Grammy Awards for Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Instrument ...

'' during the group's annual spring concert. In February 2014, Angel City Chorale recorded seven movements of Tin's album ''The Drop That Contained the Sea'', another classical/world music fusion piece in multiple languages. The album debuted at #1 on Billboard's Traditional Classical Albums chart. In April 2014, the group also performed the world-premiere of the album at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. The group's 2013 performance of Toto's "

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

" became a viral hit, surpassing 17 million views on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. The musical arrangement for this performance was created by the South African Kearsney College Choir and was also inspired by

Perpetuum Jazzile Perpetuum Jazzile is a Slovenian musical group best known for an a cappella version of Toto rock band's song Africa. The May 2009 video showing a live performance of this version has received close to 22 million views on YouTube. The group was ...

from

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. In July 2016, Angel City Chorale embarked on a three-city tour of the United Kingdom, performing a program of Copland, their viral cover of "Africa", and selections from Christopher Tin's ''

'' and ''

The Drop That Contained the Sea ''The Drop That Contained the Sea'' is a classical crossover album by Christopher Tin released in 2014. It premiered on April 13, 2014 at Carnegie Hall and debuted at #1 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Albums chart on May 24. The album c ...

'', culminating in a concert with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

and a recording session at

Abbey Road Studios Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...

, where they recorded the vocals for Christopher Tin's theme to video game ''

Civilization VI ''Sid Meier's Civilization VI'' is a turn-based strategy 4X video game developed by Firaxis Games, published by 2K Games, and distributed by Take-Two Interactive. The mobile port was published by Aspyr Media. The latest entry into the ''Civiliza ...

'', entitled "Sogno di Volare". In 2019 the Angel City Chorale were featured on Slipknot's lead single "

Unsainted "Unsainted" is a song by American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Slipknot (band), Slipknot. It was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album ''We Are Not Your Kind'' on May 16, 2019, accompanied by its music video. This is the ...

" for the album ''

We Are Not Your Kind ''We Are Not Your Kind'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Recorded at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, California with co-producer Greg Fidelman (who previously produced the band's 2014 album '' .5: The Gray Chapter ...

''.

America's Got Talent

In 2018, Angel City Chorale competed in the 13th season of

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is a televised American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distribut ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

. Their first performance aired on July 10, 2018 with their performance of Toto's

, after which the group advanced to the next round, the Judge's Cuts. In the Judge's Cut show which aired on Jul 24, 2018, the group performed

's "

Baba Yetu "Baba Yetu" (Swahili language, Swahili: "Our father, Our Father") is the theme song for the 2005 video game ''Civilization IV''. It was composed by Christopher Tin and performed by Ron Ragin and the Stanford Talisman. For its re-release in Tin's ...

", and received the Golden Buzzer from guest judge

Olivia Munn Lisa Olivia Munn (born July 3, 1980) is an American actress and former television host. After an internship at a news station in Tulsa, she moved to Los Angeles where she began her professional career as a television host for the gaming network ...

. For their first live performance on AGT which aired on August 15, 2018, they performed “This is Me” from

The Greatest Showman ''The Greatest Showman'' is a 2017 American biographical musical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, ...

which landed the group in the Dunkin Save. After receiving the majority of viewer votes from the Dunkin Save, they advanced to the Semifinal round. On September 11, for the Semifinals, they performed The Rising by

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

in honor of the heroes from 9/11, but were subsequently eliminated the next night.

Discography

*''Why Walk When You Can Fly'' (1999) *''Gift of the Angels'' (2001) *''A Chanukah Celebration'' (2004) *''The Road Home'' (2008) *''One World'' (2018)

Tour of Hope

Angel City Chorale's mission is "building community one song at a time," which is embodied every December by the group's annual Tour of Hope program, when the singers perform concerts for the homeless, the elderly, and others whom the group hopes would benefit from an infusion of holiday spirit. Over the past 15 years, ACC has sung for more than 30 service organizations around the city, donating not only the gift of music, but also food, personal items, clothing, and medical supplies.

References

External links

*http://www.angelcitychorale.org *https://soundcloud.com/angelcitychorale {{DEFAULTSORT:Angel City Chorale Choirs in California Culture of Los Angeles Organizations based in Los Angeles Musical groups from Los Angeles America's Got Talent contestants