History
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The Davis Children's Chorale is an auditioned choir open to children of ages 8-14 from Davis and the
surrounding areas. Singers rehearse twice weekly, attend a weekend-long retreat in the mountains each
fall, and perform in various concerts, festivals, and competitions throughout the year. Travel ranges
from partipating in local and regional festivals, to inter-state performances, to international tours.
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The Davis Children's Chorale was featured in a Spring 2003 performance with the Davis Chorale.
Click photograph
for a high resolution version [1849x1077, 435KB].
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Rachel Day Kessler is the Founder and Artist Director of the ensemble.
There are three different levels which hold separate rehearsals, coming together as one group for the majority
of their performances. Those who are 12-14 years old are placed in Level III; 8-11 years old experienced singers
are placed in Level II; and inexperienced singers, aged 8-11 years, are placed in Level I.
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The Davis Children's Chorale at the 2001 Heritage Music Festival in Chicago.
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The Davis Children's Chorale was organized in 1995 to perform the children's chorus in Bach's
St. Matthew's Passion for the Greater Sacramento Bach Festival. Since its inception, DCChor
has performed in several choral festivals, at weddings and for area organizations, along with their
annual Christmas and Mother's Day concerts, and Memorial Day commemorations.
The Chorale appeared with the Davis and River City Chorales in the west coast premiere performance
of Andrew Carter's Te Deum, with the composer conducting. This concert resulted in the first
CD recording of the Davis Children's Chorale. Their second CD, entitled Two for the Price of
One, is available for purchase at any DCChor concert.
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To read the article about their New York Trip that was published in both the Los Angeles Times
Local and National editions, click on the image
above [600x807, 54KB].
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In 1998, selected members of the DCChor participated in their first
international tour, attending the Canterbury Festival in England,
with Jean Ashworth Bartle, guest conductor. They gave additional
concerts in London and Bath. In 2003, the Chorale hosted their own
choral festival, visited by a children's choir from Pilzen, Czech
Republic (Mariella). DCChor reciprocated the visit with a tour of
the Czech Republic in April, 2004, also performing in Prague, Karlovy-Vary,
and Neustadt, Germany.
In April 2003, DCChor traveled to New York City as part of the
Heritage Children's Choir Festival. This tour received national
attention in both the Los Angeles Times' Local and National
editions (see image). At the festival, the ensemble received a
perfect plus score and was commended on its tone quality as well as
the ability to sing in foreign languages. While in NYC, the Chorale
toured the UN, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Empire State Building.
While visiting Ground Zero, they sang The Irish Blessing -- a
very moving experience for them as well as for those listening.
Their last evening was spent on a Festival dinner cruise that circled the
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was a great trip, filled with
many wonderful memories.
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On May 8, 2009, twenty-five members of the Children's Chorale traveled to Washington, D.C.
for the Festival of Gold Competition, sponsored by Heritage Festivals. All choirs which
participated in the competition sang in a mass chorus on May 12, 2009 at the Kennedy Center.
Several members of the DCChor joined singers selected from other choral groups to be part
of an Honor Choir, which also performed in the final concert.
If you are interested in scheduling a performance or in making a tax-deductible
donation to The Davis Children's Chorale, contact Rachel Kessler at
(530) 756-3807 or by e-mail.
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DCChor Membership
If your child, aged 8-14, loves to sing and is interested in joining this organization, you may
schedule an audition with Rachel Kessler by calling (530) 756-3807 or by e-mail.
Current members can download important forms here:
Level II Acceptance Forms (PDF)
Level III Acceptance Forms (PDF)
Mandatory Retreat Forms (PDF)
(includes letter, what to bring, schedule, medical and transportation releases)
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The Conductor
 Rachel Day Kessler is the Founder and Artistic Director of the
Davis Children's Chorale. She has been a member and soloist of the
Robert Shaw Chorale and the Roger Wagner Chorale on many international
and national tours. She earned a B.S. in Music Education from the
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, and a M.M. from Indiana
University, Bloomington.
In 1983, she was guest conductor of the institute now known as Chorus
America, in Lake Placid, New York. More recently, she has served as a faculty
member at the CSUS Summer Choral Workshop, the Zephyr Point Summer Sing, and the
Albuquerque Music and Worship Conference.
After hearing her sing in rehearsals leading up to
the first public performance of his Requiem (Sacramento, 1985), John
Rutter wrote the soprano solo in the "Lux Aeternam" for her voice. She
was the recipient of the Harmony in Our Lives award in 1993.
Many hundreds of Davis teenagers have profited from Ms. Kessler's tutelage as
chorus director at Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior
High Schools, and as director of the youth choir at the Davis Community
Church. She is the founder and director emeritus of an adult community choir,
The Davis Chorale, which has performed both in the U.S.
and Europe. Ms. Kessler is a founding co-director of a very successful vocal/choral
music camp held each summer in the Sierras, founded by Gus Noland of Sacramento.
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