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Driven By Passion: The Leadership and Legacy That is the Sacramento Choral Society

·51 min·3 clips

Kendrick says the next leader has to be a good musician, fundraiser, programmer, and psychologist.

Donald Kendrick describes the Sacramento Choral Society as an organization powered by passion. He says that is what separates a choir from an orchestra or a band. The music matters, but the culture around it matters too. That culture has been built carefully in Sacramento, and Kendrick talks about wanting to protect it. He frames the choir as part of the city's identity, not just a performance group. The conversation keeps returning to love of the work. He says the goal is to keep that feeling alive. The episode moves through the choir's role in the community. Kendrick talks about collaborations that have brought the ensemble together with other local groups. He mentions partnerships that helped create memorable performances for young audiences. The Sacramento Children's Chorus becomes a major part of the story. He explains that he founded it with his grad student, Lynn Stevens, and that he has worked with her for 26 years. He says the group was created to give children a professional opportunity to learn singing and collaboration. Music education sits at the center of that effort. Kendrick emphasizes that the chorus is not only about performance, but also about teaching kids how to work together and present beautiful music. He recalls how large the program became. At one point, there were about 240 children across five choirs. The top choir reached a level he describes as equal to the best children's choirs anywhere. He says the group traveled widely and won many awards. That history gives the conversation a sense of scale. It is about more than a single concert season. It is about building a long-running ecosystem for choral music in Sacramento. The conversation also points to the way the choir has worked across the city with different partners. Those partnerships are presented as a strength, not an add-on. The result is a portrait of an organization shaped by mission, continuity, and community investment. The episode stays grounded in practical language. It keeps coming back to what the work does for children, audiences, and the broader arts scene. Kendrick does not treat the choir as an abstract institution. He talks about it as something living, collaborative, and worth defending. The tone remains warm and serious throughout. The supporting nonprofit voices around the show reinforce that same civic frame. Even with sponsor breaks, the episode keeps returning to the central idea that music can be a public good when people commit to it over time. That makes the conversation feel both local and durable.

As heard by us

A choir story about stewardship, shared culture, and music education.

This episode stays focused on a simple question: what makes a choir its own kind of musical community, rather than just another ensemble? Donald Kendrick frames the Sacramento Choral Society as part of the city's wider musical life, and the strongest material comes when he…

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Why you'd press play

Hear how a Sacramento choir built a culture of music, love, and world-class performance.

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