Refine your skills and share your talent with the campus and surrounding community by performing with one of our many ensembles and musical clubs, or you can form your own string quartet, jazz combo, and more! Whether you’re a singer, instrumentalist, or pianist, there is a place for you to perform constantly throughout your academic career.
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Choral and Vocal Ensembles
Choral Union
The Choral Union is a non-auditioned, 150+ voice choir made up of students and community singers who rehearse during the second half of the semester and present one performance each semester. The Choral Union performs Handel's Messiah alongside an orchestra for a full house every December, and performs other masterworks in the spring.
Contact Dr. Keith Pedersen, Choral Union director, to find out how to join.
Chorale
The Chorale is an auditioned mixed chorus emphasizing musical education through sacred and secular music. It performs on campus and in the local community several times each year, and sometimes takes weekend trips.
Contact Dr. Dan Jackson, Chorale director, for more information.
Concert Choir
The Concert Choir is an auditioned ensemble of 70 – 80 mixed voices that sings a variety of choral literature, from renaissance to contemporary. It performs for collegiate festivals and PLNU's annual Christmas variety show, the Cider Celebration, as well as prepares sacred music for an annual Concert Choir Tour at churches in the educational region.
Contact Dr. Dan Jackson, Concert Choir director, for more information.
Watch more videos from Concert Choir.
Point Loma Singers
Point Loma Singers is a highly select mixed chamber choir of 20 - 24 voices that sings primarily sacred and secular vocal music from renaissance to contemporary. It also performs in the community, at collegiate festivals, in some local churches, and at a madrigal dinner each spring.
Contact Dr. Keith Pedersen, Point Loma Singers director, for more information.
Instrumental Ensembles
Chamber Orchestra
The PLNU Chamber Orchestra, open to qualified majors, non-majors, and community musicians, performs a wide variety of literature for full and string orchestra, on and off campus. Majors combine orchestra experience, solo study, and chamber music to round out their musical endeavors.
Contact Conductor Dr. Philip Tyler for details about the orchestra.
Concert Band
The Concert Band is open to all PLNU students and performs a variety of wind literature of varying levels. The ensemble has numerous goals, including performing exciting concerts, preparing high-level wind band repertoire, performing a fall tour, and providing an open and accepting place for students to celebrate God’s gift of music.
New students should meet with Professor Bruce Mansfield at the beginning of the semester. Instruments are available for use by students enrolled in the ensemble.
For more information about the PLNU Concert Band, contact Professor Mansfield
Jazz Band and Combos
The Jazz Band provides a classic big band ensemble experience for university students. The group is composed of the standard big band instrumentation of four or five trumpets, four or five trombones, five woodwinds, piano, bass, guitar, drums, vocalist, and auxiliary percussion. The Jazz Band performs at festivals, on-campus concerts, and churches, and with world-class jazz artists. In addition to great performance opportunities, the ensemble provides future musicians/educators with the basics of jazz musicianship, techniques, and education.
Combos are also formed throughout the year and are set by student interests and playing abilities. Combos provide additional performance opportunities for students passionate about jazz — a great way to expand jazz skills.
The Jazz Band and combos are open to all PLNU students and are selected at the beginning of each school year. Interested students should contact Professor John Dally and plan to attend the Open Reading Session held on the Monday before school begins. Instruments are available for use by students enrolled in the ensemble.
For more information about the PLNU Jazz Band and combos, contact Professor Mansfield.
Chamber Groups
PLNU string, wind, and percussion players profit from a balance of performance experiences: orchestra, solo playing, and chamber music. Performing in a chamber ensemble enables players to develop valuable musical skills in addition to those obtained from orchestral and solo experiences.
Contact Dr. Phil Tyler for more information.
Other Performance Opportunities
Want to explore even more performing activities? Check out these clubs on campus:
- Pointless – Men's a cappella group
- Key of Sea – Women’s a cappella group
- Musical Theatre Club
- Point Loma Opera Theatre
- Chapel Worship Bands – Contact George Williamson in the Office of Student Life and Formation