2025 was another fabulous year of new music and growth for Columbia Choirs!
In total, we produced:
- 17 Performances
- 8 Collaborations
- 2 Commissioned World Premieres
- 3 Tours
- 3 Summer Camps
- 3 Outreach programs in local schools
- 1 Community Sing
- 1 Showcase + Fundraiser
None of this could have been possible without the Columbia Choirs Community, including:
- 3,600+ Audience Members
- 300+ Singers
- 18 Staff Members
- 24 Guest Artists
- 13 Board Members
- 100s of Volunteers, Donors, and Supporters!
We want thank everyone who was a part of filling 2025 with singing. We can’t wait for an incredible 2026!
We started 2025 with an international collaboration. Concord, Con Brio, and Cantabile were honored to welcome Gondwana Chorale from Australia to perform in a joint concert in Seattle.
We held our 3rd annual fundraising event – this year with the theme “On Broadway”. It was a fabulous night of music, laughter, and raising money for Columbia Choirs!
Con Brio traveled to the Vancouver, Canada area to receive a clinic from conductor Morna Edmundson, attend a concert by Elektra Women’s Choir, and host a collaborative performance with Vancouver-based MomChoir.
Concord and Con Brio returned to the Fine Arts at Faith concert series where they performed for a generous crowd.
Our Youth Choirs hosted Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choirs for an afternoon of collaborative rehearsals and performance, in preparation for our Youth Tour to Portland.
We formed a small group of singers from across our Children and Youth Choirs to perform at the Northwest Children’s Foundation Gala.
Concord toured to Portland to have a choral exchange with Portland State Chamber Choir, receive a clinic from Dr. Ethan Sperry (and Eriks Ešenvalds!!), perform alongside Oregon Repertory Singers, and join the choir at First United Methodist Church Portland.
Our Youth Choirs traveled via train, light rail, and foot to Portland, OR for their 2025 Tour. This was the first year that singers from Lyrica were invited to attend the tour. Our full group was 91 strong!
While in Portland, our choirs performed in a collaborative concert with Oregon Repertory Singers Youth Choirs, featuring a World Premiere by Portland-based composer, Stacey Phillips.
Back home, our Adult Choirs presented their season finale concert titled “A Time to Grow”.
Our Children and Youth Choirs presented a season finale concert jointly for the first time in several years. This special performance titled “A Time to Grow” included celebrating our Class of 2025 who sang in Columbia Choirs for a combined 64 years!
We partnered with the City of Redmond to offer Summer Choir Camps for ages 5-10. This summer we had two camps: Under the Sea and Out in Space!
We returned to Warm Beach Camp for our Summer Overnight Camp including a special recording of Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story (from Hamilton)
Singers from Lyrica and Bel Canto, as well as our Children’s Choir staff brought music to life throughout the KidsQuest Children’s Museum in a special collaboration.
We held our first ever Community Sing – an all-ages, all-experiences, cross-cultural, FREE community singing event @ the Redmond Library! This first event featured Ukrainian Folk Band HraiMore and One World Dance & Drum
Our Children’s Choirs singers got to work with poet Amy Uyeki in preparation for our Guest Artist Residency Week with Eric Tuan. The young singers practiced writing senryu poetry.
Con Brio represented Columbia Choirs at the Greater Seattle Choral Consortium’s 2025 Seattle Sings Choral Festival.
We welcomed composer and conductor Eric Tuan to Seattle for our Guest Artist Residency Week. Throughout the week, Eric worked with our choirs and presented an interest session with local composer John Muehleisen.
Our Artistic Director and Executive Director joined Eric on a trip to the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial to learn about the local history of Japanese incarceration that connected with Eric’s work in residence.
All eight of our choirs – and community – filled Bastyr University Chapel for a moving concert featuring works by composer Eric Tuan. This performance culminated in the World Premiere of A New Land – an intergenerational choral work that tells the story of an immigrant’s journey from Japan to America in the early 20th century and honors the resilience of those who faced incarceration.
Our Adult Choirs presented a stunning concert at the Northshore Concert Hall with works exploring the theme of “Tales of Journey”.
This performance featured special guest Tumbarrancho Venezuela who shared music from their culture with our audience.
Our Children’s Choirs presented their December Concert titled “Tales of Journey”. It is always so great to see the growth of these young singers in the first half of our choir season.
Our Youth Choirs presented a moving concert, also sharing music that told “Tales of Journey”.
Our Youth Choirs finished the year with a festive performance at Bellevue Botanical Gardens for their Garden D’Lights event.
These memories and more were only possible due to the generous support of our community. Thank you for an incredible 2025!