Volti's Choral Institute for High School Singers provides intensive, content-rich training and performance opportunities for 100 or more high school students over the course of one concentrated, enjoyable weekend. Click to watch a brief video that will show you what it’s all about.

Two sessions are available during the 2010/11 school year:
October 15 – 17, 2010: Mixed Choirs – with Kirke Mechem, Guest Composer, and January 7 – 9, 2011: Women's Choirs.
Please note that the January session is for women's voices only.

Volti serves as the resident choir and faculty. The students have the opportunity to work closely with these outstanding young professional singers, who sing with the students during rehearsals as well as leading sectionals and offering private voice lessons. During the October 2010 session, students will work together with the prolific and much-honored composer Kirke Mechem -- a rare opportunity to work on music with coaching and insights from the composer himself. The choirs will then reunite a few weeks later in November for a public performance, at which Mechem will be present and participate in a question and answer session with the students and the audience. Students and conductors alike will not want to miss this opportunity to work with the "dean of American choral composers."

Both sessions of the Choral Institute are similar in structure. Together with Artistic Director Robert Geary and the high schools’ choir conductors, Volti's singers lead rehearsals, give voice classes, and direct seminars designed to challenge and inspire each student. Each participating choir will perform for one another and receive constructively critical evaluations by Volti and Mr. Geary. Throughout the weekend, students rehearse "side by side" with members of Volti, and ultimately perform the music learned for an open audience (including parents and friends!) at the Camp in Occidental.

Click here to view the Choral Institute brochure

CYO Camp

The CYO-McGucken Center in Occidental is set amidst the majestic redwoods of northern Sonoma County. Participants are housed in groupings of heated rustic cabins, each of which sleeps eight boys or girls. A list of essential items to bring (sleeping bags, etc.) will be provided upon registration. Rehearsals and meals take place in the main lodge, just a few hundred feet away, with its roaring fireplace and green lawns. The camp is equipped with full bathroom facilities, a basketball court, and numerous easy hiking trails.

Additional Benefits

Choral Institute students have the opportunity to perform major choral works with professional orchestras and soloists as members of the San Francisco Choral Society. Tuition is specially waived and music is provided at no cost ($100 value). Participants are also entitled to complimentary tickets to Volti and San Francisco Choral Society concerts (valued $20-$28).

Tuition is $260 per student, which includes instruction, room, and board. Some scholarship aid is available. For further information, or to register your choir (individual students are also welcome), please contact us at barbara@voltisf.org or 415.771.3352.