The Chorale was founded in Arapahoe County in 1980 by former students and parents of the Cherry Creek school system to allow committed singers to continue performing and to provide the community with the joy of fine music, beautifully sung. We became a 501(c)(3) organization in 1986. We have had three Artistic Directors in our 36 years, including the current Artistic Director & Conductor, Brian Patrick Leatherman, now in his 21st season.
Today we have 135 members. Our repertoire ranges across the whole choral spectrum, including religious and secular classics, modern works, popular music, spirituals, jazz, and regional and folk favorites. We regularly commission new works and new arrangements of already-published works.
We rehearse and sing most of our regular-season concerts (four concerts/two performances each), at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cherry Hills Village, Arapahoe County, Colorado. We also sing elsewhere in Arapahoe County and in other SCFD counties, as well as at other Colorado, US, and overseas venues.
We collaborate regularly with other choirs (adults’ and children’s), and with musical groups and individuals as diverse as symphony orchestras, Celtic and Bluegrass ensembles, local singer/songwriters, instrumental soloists, jazz ensembles, and bell ringers.
The CherryTones, a sixteen-member a cappella vocal ensemble established in 2012-13 by our Outreach Committee and drawn from our chorale members, adds variety to our regular concerts and sings on its own in new venues, with a pop/rock/jazz repertoire designed to attract new listeners.