About GCCC
GCCC Mission Statement
The mission of Gold Coast Concert Chorus is to provide a varied choral experience for singers who desire to expand their musical knowledge and abilities, and to enhance the cultural level of performing arts within the community through the presentation of a wide range of choral music.
35 Years of Musical History
The Chorus in Malvern – 2004
The Gold Coast Concert Chorus began in January, 1988. For its first program, under the direction of Kurt Berensten, the Chorus’ original 35 singers and two other choirs in Ventura, presented Mendelssohn’s “Hymn of Praise” to celebrate Trinity Lutheran Church’s 50th anniversary. The original goal of the chorus was to “provide an opportunity for people to sing, but without the stringent qualifications required by organizations with a classical repertoire.” This philosophy piqued the interest of the choral community and the chorus quickly expanded. Today, the Gold Coast Concert Chorus is proud to be Ventura’s largest community chorus consisting of over 100 active singers.
The Chorus adopted a format of presenting a holiday concert incorporating familiar tunes, a mid season concert consisting of
choral classics, and a spring concert of light mixtures of choral selections. The GCCC has also actively participated in several community outreach events throughout the years, such asperforming at the Ventura County Fair and the Street Fair, caroling downtown Ventura businesses, and presenting mini concerts for assisted living facilities and the Veterans’ Home of Ventura. In 1996, under the direction of Kenneth Helms, the Chorus began “Klassics for Kids”, a special performance program brought to children as a means of introducing them to the world of choral music.
Gold Coast Concert Chorus has represented Ventura’s musical community in several successful concert tours including performing in such venues as Carnegie Hall (under the direction of John Rutter) and Lincoln Center in 1991. Other tours included 1995 to Great Britain, and to France, Italy and Croatia in 1998. The chorus toured Central and Eastern Europe in 2001–the same year in which the Ventura County Board of Supervisors bestowed on them the honor of Music Ambassadors for their community service and representation of Ventura County at home and abroad. The Chorus performed the British premiere of Morten Lauridsen’s “Lux Aeterna” with members of the English Symphony Orchestra in 2004. In February of 2013, this versatile group came full circle and returned to Carnegie Hall on an invitation to participate in a joint choral concert of Carol Barnett’s “The World Beloved: A Bluegrass Mass.”
GCCC in June of 2010
The Gold Coast Concert Chorus is a non-profit organization composed of all ages with all levels of experience. A volunteer Board of Directors work in partnership with the Artistic Director to insure your musical enjoyment. It has been the honor of the Gold Coast Concert Chorus to provide for the musical enrichment of Ventura County for these past 30 years and they look forward to continuing that tradition.