Overview and Mission
Established in 1965 by Gwilym H. Isaac, the San Antonio Choral Society began as a community choir, with only a handful of singers, as a means to join with others who share the same passion for choral music and strive for excellence in performance. SACS has since grown to a 100+, mixed-voice performing ensemble open to talented men and women from all walks of life.
Community Engagement
We pride ourselves on finding new ways to engage our community, because we love San Antonio, and we see our friends and neighbors also with the need and desire to be elevated by moments of sheer beauty. We look to serve where our song is most needed. Performing diverse repertoire in a variety of venues around the city connects us to patrons of many different communities and cultures. We collaborate with other arts organizations to raise the bar and to multiply what we are each able to accomplish.
Our concerts have assisted in raising donations for the 100 Club, Wounded Warriors, the San Antonio Food Bank, Corazon Ministries, Morgan’s Wonderland, and others. Our performances often invite audience participation, whether it is singing along on Christmas carols, hymns, or popular Beatles tunes, to dressing up in period costumes for Downton Abbey concerts, to participating in the singing of Handel’s Messiah during our annual Messiah-Sing. From commemorative performances at the Alamo and San Antonio’s historic Missions to Luminaria, Barry Manilow, and Spurs Basketball, our music is an integral part of the San Antonio community.
Musical Development
We aspire to help each singer make music at the highest possible level. Through vocal pedagogy, music reading instruction, and mentoring, we create opportunities for students and adult learners to develop skills in choral singing. Our Mentored Student Program offers high school and university students opportunities to perform in a large-scale production of highly significant, complex masterworks that high school or even most graduate-level programs cannot offer. Financial assistance, internships, and scholarship opportunities are offered to deserving students who will continue our work and pay it forward.
Our conducting internship program gives qualified undergraduate music education majors invaluable hands-on conducting experience leading the ensemble in rehearsal and performance. Our chamber choir gives individuals with advanced musical skills an opportunity for further growth.
Passion Through Artistry
We kindle inspiration and joy in our members and our audiences, leading them to those places of focus and intimacy. They find unexpected delight, involuntary shivers, goosebumps. They are transported to lovely places they can’t otherwise reach. Our aspiration is to enable singers to make music at the highest possible level - to make a difference in their life and in the lives of all who hear our music. Pairing quality repertoire with innovative programming, each concert is unique and exciting. Guided by scholarship and performance practice, we seek to portray choral works as authentically and close to the composer’s intentions as possible.
By collaborating with some of the most talented instrumentalists, vocalists, and arts’ organizations in the South Texas region and beyond, we aspire to bring performances of the highest caliber to our audiences each season. As a result, the choir has earned invitations to perform at the Texas Choral Directors Association Convention, Carnegie Hall, and internationally in Germany and Austria, to name a few.
