Cuesta Concord Chorus & Voices Unite
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Cuesta Concord Chorus, a community of singers, shares their joy and love of music near and far.
Find Cuesta Concord Chorus on:
Cuesta Concord Chorus (C3) is directed by Cassandra Tarantino who founded the chorus in the Fall of 2005. Through a supportive community we create music. The music we perform ranges from Medieval to contemporary choral music, a capella, accompanied, and in various languages. Chorus members range in age from 16-85. Our vision has grown to include domestic and international tours, small caroling ensembles, and Veteran Outreach. It is our honor and joy to sing for you.
Vox Concordia Mundi: Singing in Harmony around the World.
Cuesta Concord Chorus has sung in numerous languages, including:
English, French, Latin, Spanish, German, Italian, Irish Celtic, Armenian, Hebrew,
Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, ancient Germanic Latin, and Cherokee.
In addition to performing works from the Classical Choral Canon, the Cuesta Concord Chorus has performed major works with orchestra, including J. S. Bach鈥檚 Magnificat and full Christmas Oratorio, A. Vivaldi鈥檚 Magnificat and Gloria, and Ren茅 Clausen鈥檚 鈥淎 New Creation.鈥� In the summer of 2025, at the Voices Unite! Festival, they will produce a full scale orchestral production of Carl Orff鈥檚 鈥淐armina Burana,鈥� which will be performed with community choruses from around the world.
Biographies
Cassandra Tarantino has her in Master鈥檚 degrees Choral Conducting from San Jose State University and Performance Flute from California State University, Northridge. Her Bachelor鈥檚 Degrees are in Church Music and English Literature from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Mrs. Tarantino has participated in music festivals as a flutist and conductor at the Oregon Bach Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Apple Hill Chamber Music Festival in New Hampshire, Abeyrstwyth Music Festival in Wales, and Morges Chamber Music Festival in Switzerland. She took sabbatical in Northern Ireland to study Classical and traditional music and the Irish-Celtic Language. In 2005 Mrs. Tarantino was hired by 51反差黑料 to begin a choral program at the campus in Paso Robles. The Cuesta Concord Chorus has since become a thriving community of singers that regularly performs locally and tours throughout the US and Europe. Mrs. Tarantino conducts, teaches private flute and voice, music theory and music history at 51反差黑料, San Luis Obispo, California. In 2013, Mrs. Tarantino co-founded with Marcy Irving the Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan Company, a community-based opera company. In 2017 Mrs. Tarantino was hired as the Director of Music at St. Stephen鈥檚 Episcopal Church, San Luis Obispo. In 2021 Mrs. Tarantino completed her Level III Sommelier Exam through the International Sommelier Guild and is the Sommelier for CASS Winery in Paso Robles, California. Folk music and dance are a passion for Cassandra, and you will often find her playing and dancing traditional Irish, English Country and Contra Dance music. She loves to play with her menagerie of animals, garden, and travel the world with her ever supportive and awesome husband, Dr. Jon E. Tarantino.
Ryan Hartzell, bass and piano, and organ works as a Software Engineer at OnSpot Data. By night, he and a team of friends are developing a video game, Gazelle in a Winter Coat. He has been a regular choral singer on the Central Coast since moving to SLO in 2014 to study Computer Science at Cal Poly. While there, he joined the Cal Poly choirs, where he sang in the annual Bach Week and went on tour to sing in England, Wales, and Southern California. After graduating in 2018, he spent time in LA and New Zealand but returned in 2020. Since then, he has sung with the SLO Master Chorale, Resonance, the Symphony of the Vines, and, St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, San Luis Obispo. In addition to accompanying the Cuesta Concord Chorus, Mr. Hartzell accompanies voice classes at his alma mater, Cal Poly, SLO.
鈥淰oices Unite!鈥�, California Coast International Choral Festival
Aug. 15-17, 2025
The 鈥淰oices Unite!鈥� Ann Coppenbarger International Choral Festival will take place this summer!
Community Choruses from across the county, country, and around the world have been invited to share their voices in song, giving their own concerts and combining together in a grand concert.
This noncompetitive festival, currently the only one of its kind in the United States, will welcome choirs from around the world who will enjoy the beauty of the Central Coast region. They will perform at local wineries, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, and enjoy the beautiful landscape of California鈥檚 Central Coast. 鈥淰oices Unite!鈥� will feature a live performance of 鈥淐armina Burana鈥� with full orchestra at the California Polytechnic University Performing Arts Center on Saturday, August 16, 2025.
Friday, August 15
Choral Concert in Mission
8:00pm |
Enjoy the renowned acoustics of the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa with voices lifted in song. This concert features the Cuesta Concord Chorus and our guest choirs: The Coro Nacional de Puerto Rico, the Trinity Chancel Choir of Denver.
The concert will begin immediately after the last set of 鈥淐oncerts in the Plaza,鈥� presented by Downtown SLO, and held outdoors next to the Mission. Plan to arrive early to find parking downtown and enjoy the lively music in the Plaza as you make your way to the Mission.
Saturday, August 16
Combined Choral Concert of Carl Orff鈥檚 鈥淐armina Burana鈥�
7:30pm, Miossi Hall
Cal Poly Performing Arts Center
鈥淐armina Burana,鈥� conducted by Cassandra Tarantino, will be performed with a full orchestra, soloists and a grand chorus that includes the Cuesta Concord Chorus and our Festival Guest choirs. We will be joined by the SLO Symphony, Master Chorale, Opera SLO, Central Coast Gilbert & Sullivan, Vocal Arts Ensemble, Resonance, Central Coast Youth Chorus and other local artists in a grand community celebration of Carl Orff鈥檚 masterwork.
This concert is free and general seating will be available. To ensure your seat, please claim your free tickets in advance. (limit 4 per person).
Sunday August 17
Guest Choral Concerts Paso Robles Wineries
RAVA Winery
1:00pm - 3:00pm
6785 Creston Road, Paso Robles |
Grab your hat, sunscreen and a folding chair and enjoy our guest choirs in a beautiful outdoor setting on the vineyard lawn. No outside food or beverage allowed. Reservations not required, but you may book a seated tasting experience by calling the winery at (805) 238-7282.
Sculpterra Winery & Sculpture Garden
3:30 鈥� 5:00 p.m.
5015 Linne Road, Paso Robles |
Sunday afternoons are popular at Sculpterra, featuring live music beginning at noon.
Cuesta Concord Chorus and our guest choirs will take the stage at 3:30. Come early
and enjoy a stroll through the beautiful sculpture garden. To book a tasting or art
tour, contact the winery at (805) 226-8881.
This event will honor the memory and the legacy gift of Ann Coppenbarger to the Cuesta
Concord Chorus, the Festival鈥檚 hosting organization, in which she participated from
2006-2021. Under the leadership of Cassandra Tarantino, the Founding Director of the
Cuesta Concord Chorus, (formerly the North County Chorus) this Festival will bring
national and international recognition to the California Central Coast, drawing upon
the rich talent, abilities and devoted audiences found in our community.
This project is made possible through the Ann Coppenbarger Endowment Fund, and the
generosity of Joan Sargen, Cricket Fine Handler, individual donors and the support
of 51反差黑料 Foundation and the 51反差黑料 Community Programs.
Our beloved Ann Coppenbarger
International and Domestic Tours
From the Director:
One of my favorite memories from college is going on a choir tour to the east coast.
The fact that I was on the tour as a flutist and not a singer didn鈥檛 matter. It
was an incredible tour! I knew that if I were to ever have a chorus, I would tour
the world with them. Our first tour was in 2007 to the California Missions. Our
first international tour was in 2011 to Ireland and Northern Ireland. Additional tours
have included the East Coast of the US, Germany, Austria, England, Normandy, Italy,
and Sicily. 鈥淰ox Concordia Mundi鈥� means 鈥淪inging in Harmony Around the World.鈥� Joining
our voices with our fellow singing friends is a wonderful way to spread peace and
harmony. We have loved each venue, each chorus, and each audience member that we
have met over these last 20 years!
Italy and Sicily 鈥淰iva La Musica!鈥� Tour: Cuesta Concord Chorus at the Temple of Concordia, Agrigento, Sicily, July, 2024
鈥淰ox Concordia Mundi鈥� tour to England and Normandy: Cuesta Concord Chorus on Iowa
Beach in Normandy on July 4, 2019. We had just performed at the American Cemetery
to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. The flag we are holding was flown on
the US Nation鈥檚 Capital Building when we toured there in 2013. This flag goes on
tour with us each time.
Cuesta Concord Chorus singing 鈥淣ormandy,鈥� Words by Cyril Crane, music by Dr. Ron Kean. The chorus commissioned this piece from Dr. Kean in honor of his father who fought at Normandy. The composer is conducting. Dr. Kean wrote a piccolo part for Cassanrda Tarantino to play. The song opens with 鈥淭aps鈥� on solo piccolo. It was her great honor to play that piece for the soldiers buried there. The chorus sang in full voice on July 4, 2019 honoring the 75th Anniversary of the Storming of Normandy.
The Cuesta Concord Chorus at Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany in July 2017. Our dear
Ann Coppenbarger is in the front bottom right corner with the baseball cap and big
smile.
North County Chorus with Neuschwanstein in the background, July 2017.
Cuesta Concord Chorus in the Basilika St. Michael in Austria (Where Maria and Georg von Trapp were married in 鈥淭he Sound of Music鈥�)
鈥淔reedom Tour:鈥� The North County Chorus in front of the NAtion鈥檚 Capital, July 2014. The flag on the building is being flown in our honor. The flag we are holding was flown in honor of Cassandra Tarantino. This is the tour that began our Veteran Outreach Program.
We performed at Veteran homes in West Virginia, Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and at the Walter Reed Hospital.
The North County Chorus giving Cassandra Tarantino an American Flag that had been flown on the Nation鈥檚 Capital Building in January of 2014.
鈥淚reland Choir Tour鈥� North County Chorus in the Belfast Cathedral, July 2011. This
was our first international tour. It had originally been scheduled for 2010, but
the chorus got waylaid in Philadelphia because of the Icelandic volcano eruption.
Thanks to Travel Guard Insurance, we got all of our money back and succeeded in landing
in Dublin in 2011.
鈥淐alifornia Mission Tour:鈥� The North County Chorus in front of Mission San Antonio
de Padua, 2007. This was our first tour. Additional Missions where we performed
included Mission Carmel and Mission San Rafael. We worked with Dr. Craig Russel, a
Mission Music Specialist, on finding pieces that had not been performed in over 200
years. We brought those pieces back to life, and even got to sing them to the composers
who were buried in the Missions where we performed!
Veteran Outreach
Faces of Freedom Memorial, Atascadero
Our Veteran Outreach Program began with our 2014 Freedom Tour. On this tour we performed in Veteran Hospitals and Veteran Homes across the East Coast. Performing for these men and women changed our lives. All we wanted to do was sing for them as a way of saying, 鈥淭hank you for your service.鈥� What we received from them in gratitude changed our lives. Since 2014 all veterans and spouses are invited free to our concerts and events. We sing at the Memorial Day and Veteran鈥檚 Day services at the Paso Robles Cemetery. We sing at the annual Lost at Sea Ceremony in Cayucos. When we are on tour, we seek to find Veteran Memorial and Cemetery sites where we perform.
Florence American Cemetery, June 16, 2024
Salzburg, Austria in front of the Greenhouse where 鈥淚 am 16 Going on 17鈥� was performed in 鈥淪ound of Music.鈥�
Laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery, June 29, 2014.