The Verdi Chorus Kicks Off 43rd Season with "FROM VERDI TO VERISMO"

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The concert will showcase works from OTELLO, GIOVANNA D'ARCO, IL CORSARO, PAGLIACCI, TOSCA, and LA BOHÉME under the direction of Anne Marie Ketchum.

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The Verdi Chorus kicks off its 43rd season with its Fall 2026 Concert From VERDI to VERISMO for two performances only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on November 14 and 15, 2026.

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Led by Anne Marie Ketchum, who is embarking on her forty-third consecutive year as Artistic Director of the organization, the Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. The program will feature operatic sequences from Verdi's Otello, Giovanna d'Arco and Il Corsaro along with selections from Leoncavello's Pagliacci and Puccini's Le Ville, Tosca, and La Bohéme

These performances are made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Sahm Family Foundation and the Colburn Foundation, and by grant funding from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the City of Santa Monica through the Santa Monica Arts Commission.

Conductor Anne Marie Ketchum says, 'As I approached our 43rd season I decided to focus on our namesake Giuseppe Verdi and contrast his music with operas from the verismo tradition. Our program will include works from three of Verdi's operas. We begin with Otello, written close to the end of Verdi's life and filled with dramatic musical writing. Also included are two lesser-known pieces from the beginning of his career. Giovanna d'Arco and Il Corsaro are each filled with his characteristic emotion and beautiful melody. We then delve into the thrilling world of verismo opera which focuses on the day to day struggles of everyday working-class people, as we explore scenes from Leoncavello's Pagliacciand Puccini's Tosca.

I can't think of a better way to end our program than by showcasing one of Puccini's most beloved and recognized operas, La Bohéme. When Musetta decides to abandon the rich older guy she is currently stringing along in order to rekindle her romance with the man she truly loves, it is verismo opera at its very best, exposing the jealousies and playfulness of young love. It's such a joy to pull together a full story line by presenting a slightly abridged version of the entire second act of this masterpiece!'

The Verdi Chorus prepares for concerts with rehearsals every Monday night. There, an amazing thing happens as over 50 singers gather from every walk of life to become the Verdi Chorus. This wide swath of people includes singers from their early 20s to their late 80s who come from a variety of professions, and yet have one thing in common: the desire to sing side by side each week and delve into the rich, dramatic world of opera. They in turn are joined by up-and-coming opera singers at the beginning of their careers, and college students who have just begun to realize their operatic gifts, as all of them become one under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. Each rehearsal is like a vocal master class.

Further demonstrating the organization's mission to provide performance opportunities to young professional singers, sixteen highly promising singers are hired as section leaders and rehearsal coaches. Known as the Fox Singers, named in memory of long-time Chorus and Board member Walter Fox, these singers assist the Artistic Director, provide direction for their sections in rehearsals, and have opportunities to perform as featured singers in performances. The Fox Singers also perform on occasion independently of the full Chorus, serving as a showcase for the singers and as ambassadors for the Verdi Chorus. Performances of special arias and ensembles have been presented at venues in Southern California including the Annenberg Beach House, the Huntington Library, and the Nixon Library.

The Chorus is also proud to continue with the Sahm Foundation Apprentice Singers program that was established in 2015, in which talented vocal music students at the college level gain the opportunity to work with the Chorus in rehearsals and sing operatic music in concert. Each receives a scholarship to provide funds with which they can broaden their music studies. Sahm Foundation Apprentices who successfully complete the program are invited back to sing with the Chorus for subsequent sessions.

Performance times are Saturday, November 14 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, November 15 at 4:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, located at 1220 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401. Tickets are now available for purchase at www.verdichorus.org . Priority seating is available for $50, general admission is $40, seniors are $30, and students aged 25 and under with a valid ID are $10.

Music Director and Founding Artistic Director ANNE MARIE KETCHUM has been the conductor of the Verdi Chorus since its beginning in 1983. Well recognized as a singer, conductor, stage director and educator, she taught on the voice faculty of Pasadena City College for 34 years until her recent retirement. During her tenure at Pasadena, she created an opera program in which she directed a fully realized opera each spring. The program was so successful, former students who had gone to four year universities returned year after year to participate in these productions, which became more ambitious and elaborate as time went on. As a singer, she has appeared internationally and is well known for her performances of contemporary art music, vocal chamber music, solo recitals, and opera. Her recordings of Morten Lauridsen's Cuatro Canciones and of Aurelio De La Vega's Recordatio were both honored with Grammy nominations. She has premiered numerous works by such composers as Ernst Krenek, Aurelio De La Vega, Schulamit Ran, and Hans Werner Henze. Among Ms. Ketchum's creative activities is This and My Heart: A Portrait of Emily Dickinson in Text and Song - a concert/theater piece which she co-wrote and performs with actress Linda Kelsey and pianist Victoria Kirsch. This was first presented as part of Grand Performances in Los Angeles and made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles. She has also served on the faculty of OperaWorks, Angels Vocal Art and at California State University, Northridge. Ms. Ketchum and the Chorus have received commendations on several occasions from the county of Los Angeles and from the city of Santa Monica.

Pianist Wendy Caldwell , a native of Canada, has been a Lecturer/Vocal Coach and collaborative pianist at UCLA for the last nine years. She has also coached at California State University Long Beach, Acadia University, University of Illinois Chicago and the California Institute of Technology. She was on staff at Pasadena City College and served as Music Director and Principal Pianist for PCC Opera for over ten years. Productions there included The Tales of Hoffmann, The Magic Flute, The Marriage of Figaro, Die Fledermaus, Gianni Schicchi, Suor Angelica, and The Old Maid and The Thief. Ms. Caldwell is also a very busy freelance accompanist in the Los Angeles area, performing regularly in recital with both student and professional musicians. She has been a Guest Artist at Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Alaska and at Cal State Summer Arts in Monterey and Fresno. Ms Caldwell holds degrees in Piano Performance from the University of Toronto and Acadia University.

Jamie Chamberlin Granner recently debuted as Violetta Valèry in La Traviata at Festival Opera and at Opera Orlando in A Decade of Divas. In 2027 Jamie will make an exciting role debut as Puccini's Tosca at Festival Opera. Career highlights include starring as Marilyn Monroe in the US Premiere of Marilyn Forever at Long Beach Opera, Lucia di Lammermoor with POP, Cunegonde in Candide at LBO, and the US Premiere of Philip Glass 's The Perfect American at Chicago Opera Theatre. Jamie has appeared as soloist with LA Opera, LA Phil, The Louisville Orchestra and The Pasadena Symphony. She is a Delos Recording Artist, and her voice can be heard in the 2016 Coen Brothers film Hail, Caesar! An alumna of the Merola Opera Program at SF Opera, Jamie holds BA and MM degrees from UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music, where she has served as Lecturer in vocal technique. Instagram: @darlingdivajmc

Nathan Granner is a tenor, recording artist, producer, and CEO of A Lab Studios, specializing in contemporary opera and late Bel Canto . The San Francisco Chronicle praised his 'sinewy, ringing tone' and flexibility; San Francisco Classical Voice celebrated his 'tons of squillo,' honeyed tone, and dynamics. He has created roles in operas, including Korey Wise in Anthony Davis 's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Central Park Five, the title role in Gordon Getty 's Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Morel in Stewart Copeland 's The Invention of Morel, and Aubrey Wells in Laura Kaminsky's Today It Rains. A founding member of The American Tenors, he recorded for Sony Classical and reached Billboard's classical-crossover top five. His work has taken him across the United States, Europe, and Russia. As CEO of A Lab Studios, Granner develops productions and technology that expand how opera is created, experienced, and shared, championing voices and building audiences for the art form.

Canadian baritone and composer Joel Balzun is establishing himself as a dynamic force both on and off the stage. A recent award-winner in the Wagner Society of New York Singers Competition, he also won the Fulham Opera Robert Presley Memorial Verdi Prize. Highlights of the 2026-2027 season include house débuts with Fort Collins Symphony (Pagliacci), Columbus Symphony (The Creation), San Diego Opera (Rigoletto) and returns to Los Angeles Opera (Hercules vs. Vampires) and Pacific Opera Project (Il fortunato inganno). Recent performance highlights debuts with Princeton Festival and Maryland Opera (Madama Butterfly), Amarillo Opera (Pagliacci), Pittsburgh Opera (Fellow Travelers), Wichita Grand Opera (Ein deutsches Requiem) and Opera Wilmington (Cavalleria rusticana). He recently workshopped and previewed the title role in Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek's Lincoln in the Bardo for the Metropolitan Opera, Chautauqua Opera and NewMusicUSA. www.joelbalzun.com

The Verdi Chorus is a Southern California nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting opera choruses in concert and to providing career development opportunities for young professional singers. As the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music of the opera chorus, The Verdi Chorus gives talented amateur singers the unique opportunity to sing side-by-side with professional singers in rehearsals leading up to performances held to the highest artistic standards. Under the direction of its remarkable Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, each rehearsal is like a vocal master class.

The Verdi Chorus was founded in 1983 at the Verdi Restaurant in Santa Monica. When the restaurant closed in 1991, The Verdi Chorus continued. In 1999, the chorus incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Under the continuous direction of Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Chorus presents four concerts each year as well as other collaborative events. Its repertoire includes over 300 choruses from 81 operas in seven languages.

For more information visit: https://www.verd

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/The-Verdi-Chorus-to-Present-FROM-VERDI-TO-VERISMO-20260930)._