ENSEMBLES 2023

San Diego Children's Choir

The San Diego Children’s Choir is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing the youth of San Diego, California ages 4-18, with the opportunity for artistic and personal growth through choral music education. Selected repertoire is drawn from all periods, representing many styles to enhance individual musical growth. The choir has grown from 42 participants in its inaugural year 33 years ago to over 1,000 annually in three major programs, a core ensemble program consisting of our touring choirs, an early childhood program, and an outreach program, serving San Diego’s underprivileged communities at no cost to participating families. This choir consists of members of two separate choirs, SDCC's advanced treble choir, Premier Choir, and the advanced mixed choir, Chamber Choir, for a range of ages from 12-18. Previous international tours include Scotland, Quebec, England, Australia, Italy, France, and Germany.

Ruthie Millgard

Conductor

Ruthie Millgard has a bachelor's degree in music education from Western Washington University, USA and a master of music in choral conducting from the University of Oregon, USA. During her undergraduate and graduate training, Millgard sang in regional and national American Choral Director's Association (ACDA) conventions and in various venues across Europe. The chamber ensemble she sang in at the University of Oregon won first place in the Fleischmann International Trophy Competition in 2013 in Cork, Ireland, competing against professional choirs from around the globe. Continued professional development includes successful completion of Kodaly Level Three credit hours from Holy Names University. Since moving to San Diego, California, Millgard has enjoyed serving the larger choral community. She conducts district honor's choirs and serves regularly as clinician at K-12 choral festivals, and in January 2022 presented on choral improvisation at the ACDA National Children and Community Choirs Choir Retreat. Millgard is past Board President of the Choral Consortium of San Diego, a network of over 80 San Diego/Tijuana area choirs. She has also volunteered as rehearsal director for Voices of our City Choir, serving San Diegans living with housing insecurity. Millgard, with SDCC’s Chamber Choir, won national organization, Music and Memory, 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award for the workshops Millgard created highlighting the value of singing for those living with dementia. Millgard has been a teacher/conductor with the San Diego Children’s Choir since 2014 and lives near San Diego with her husband and two young sons.

Celebration Program

Additional Concerts Program