ABOUT US
The Choral Society of Southern California (CSSC) was founded in 1982 by a group of visionaries that included Harvey Bacal, Leonard Bernstein, Ralph Edwards, Sammy Fain, Greer Garson, Arthur Hamilton, Johana Harris, Charles C. Hirt, and Henry Mancini in order to promote American music and neglected masterworks by composers of other nationalities.
In addition to presenting its own concert series in the Los Angeles area, CSSC has toured Europe ten times, performing in Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Denmark, Holland, the Baltics, Greece and Great Britain. It has appeared with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the Athens State Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, and the Nuremberg Symphony, among others.
In 1991, it represented the City of Los Angeles in a Sister-City exchange with Bordeaux . It has performed at the Western Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association (1992, 1996), and has been a featured guest ensemble at the Vienna International Organ Festival (1990), the 1995 Aspach (Austria) Festival, the Prague Musical Summer (1990, 1995), the Janacek Festival (1998), and, in 1997 in Lithuania at the Vilnius International Music Festival, and the International Pazaislis Music Festival. CSSC has consistently met with critical and popular success. The Los Angeles Times once said that Choral Society audiences could "lean back and revel in the full seamless choral singing." Its first CD (music by Amy Beach and Nick Strimple) was released in 1996 by Music and Arts Programs of America. Its second, music by Judith Lang Zaimont, was released in 2000 by 4-Tray Records, to rave reviews. Fanfare Magazine said, "The Choral Society is obviously a very fine choir." Its third recording, of Yiddish cantatas by Max Helfman and Maurice Rauch was recently released by the Milken Recorded Archive of Jewish Music in America.
Founding Advisory Board
Leonard BernsteinJohn GreenMartin BookspanJohana HarrisHenry ManciniGreer GarsonCharles C. Hirt
Our Music Director
NICK STRIMPLE
Nick Strimple, Music Director of the Choral Society of Southern California, has had a long, distinguished and versatile career. Born in Amarillo, Texas, he was educated at Baylor University and the University of Southern California. As a guest conductor, he has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Nuremberg Symphony, the Ensemble Orchestral d'Aquitaine, the Slovak Radio Orchestra, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Prague Radio Choir, the New York Oratorio Society, the Hans Sachs Choir, and the Oregon Bach Festival, among others. His recordings of twentieth century choral music are released on the Music & Arts, and 4-Tay labels. He has also prepared choruses for some of the world's greatest conductors, including Zubin Mehta, Michael Tilson Thomas and Gerard Schwarz.
Dr. Strimple is also well-known as a scholar, whose interests include twentieth century music, Jewish music, the music of Dvorak and other Czech composers, and the aesthetics of sacred music. His critically acclaimed book, Choral Music in the Twentieth Century , was released in 2002. He is recognized internationally for his work with Shoah music. He has lectured on the subject at Yale University, Oxford University, Wellesley College, and other distinguished institutions, and served for ten years as a consultant to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. He has presented and performed Shoah music programs throughout the United States and Europe. During 2001-02, Dr. Strimple served on the California State Legislature Working Group for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Education, and currently serves as Vice President of the David Nowakowsky Foundation.
As a respected composer, Strimple has written concert and liturgical works, as well as film and television scores, and has served as arranger (mostly choral arranger) for Frank Sinatra, Rod Stewart, Air Supply, and other leading artists.
Nick Strimple also serves as Music Director of the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale, Music Director of the Los Angeles Vocal & Instrumental Ensemble ("la vie"), Director of Music at Beverly Hills Presbyterian Church, and is currently Acting Chair of the Choral Department at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.