The CSU Channel Islands Choir is offered as a part of the University's Performing Arts Program. The choir is currently open to enrolled students, CSUCI staff, and the community. We are a diverse group encompassing all ages and musical backgrounds.
The choir offers a chance to travel off-campus to engage with the community in various concert venues in Ventura County. Acting as ambassadors for the university, the choir's concerts encourage future enrollment into the Performing Arts program through public interactions.
Professor KuanFen Liu (pictured above) has been the choir instructor and conductor since its founding in 2004. Originally from Taiwan, KuanFen began her piano studies at the age of five and added violin and singing throughout her childhood. She earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in voice performance from Tunghai University in Taiwan, a Master of Music in conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.
Major pieces in the choir's past repertoire include Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, Rutter's Fancies, Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder, Gershwin Portraits by Ira and George Gershwin, and R. Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music. The CSUCI Choir also participates in annual choral-orchestral concerts with the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra. Together they have performed Te Deum by Henry Purcell,Mass in C Major, and Requiem by W. A. Mozart, Dona Nobis Pacem by R. Vaughn Williams, Nänie by J. Brahms, Lux Aeterna by M. Lauridsen, Requiem by John Rutter, and Serenade to Music by R. Vaughan Williams. Musical styles performed include spirituals, folk music from various cultures, Christmas carols, and madrigals. Concerts often include different languages such as Hebrew, Gaelic, German, French, Latin, Taiwanese, Swahili, and of course English.
Auditions are held twice a year around the start of each semester. Enrolled students need not audition, but must sing for the instructor to determine vocal range and placement in the choir. Student fees are paid through the university. The class fee for non-enrolled students is $75 per semester.
For more information about the choir or to inquire about enrollment, or the website, contact instructor KuanFen Liu at 805-278-0375 or e-mail her at DrLiu@cicachoir.org.