Our Choirs

  • The Davidson College Chorale is the premier choral ensemble at Davidson College. Comprised of skilled singers from multiple disciplines, the Chorale draws students from across campus with fervent commitment to the choral arts regardless of major. The ensemble performs several concerts every semester and embarks on frequent tours, with programs that include standard choral repertoire, newly composed and commissioned literature, and works from a broad array of diverse musical and cultural traditions. Chorale prizes the social responsibility of music making, and the importance of our discipline within contemporary socio-politics and the broader liberal arts. Rehearsals are held Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:30 p.m.

    Auditions for Davidson College Chorale are held during the first week of classes during the fall term.

  • Choral Arts Society of Davidson (CASD) is a symphonic chorus open by audition to members of the Davidson College and wider communities. CASD performs both a cappella choral literature and choral orchestral masterworks. Recent performances have included: Duruflé's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Mozart's Requiem, Bach's Mass in B Minor, Vaughan Williams's Dona Nobis Pacem and Serenade to Music, Haydn's Creation, Constant Lambert's Rio Grande, John Corigliano's Fern Hill, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, and Karl Jenkins's The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace. Rehearsals are held on Mondays from 6:30 - 8:00/30 p.m. from September through early December and mid-January through late April.

    Auditions for Choral Arts Society of Davidson are held in late August, and on a case-by-case basis by appointment in January. We look forward to working together!

  • Davidson College Chamber Singers are a small, project-based ensemble engaged in cross-campus collaboration. Rehearsals (Tuesdays at 5:35 - 7:00 p.m.) mimc that of a semi-professional vocal ensemble. Performances occur in traditional venues and atypical spaces across campus. Repertoire ranges from early medieval chant to newly commissioned works.

    Chamber Singers is by invitation only, however those interested are most welcome to share their interest with the Director.

Meet the Team

  • Director of Choral Activities

    Appointed in 2022, Renata Berlin is the Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Practice. Originally from the Windy City, Renata studied music education at DePauw University and choral conducting at Eastman School of Music. Renata then taught the choral arts at Princeton University. Highlights from this time include managing an international artist series, preparing choruses for guest conductors like James Burton (Tanglewood Festival Chorus and BSO Choral Director), and premiering a selection of pieces from a new, 1741 Dublin version of Handel’s Messiah with conductor Malcolm Bruno. An advocate for music education, Renata worked at the Castleton Festival (founded by the late, great Lorin Maezel) as their Director of Community Engagement.

    Uniquely, Renata spent four years living in Ethiopia and Tanzania, where her work founding and directing the Ethiopian Peace Choir earned her nominations by two U.S. Ambassadors for the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism Abroad. The choir of 80, the first of its kind in the Horn of Africa, brought together multiple ethnicities together to promote unity and develop musical literacy. Recent engagements include guest conducting at the Unimus Festival in Koblenz, Germany, and serving as a conducting fellow with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra. Renata is pursuing her Doctorate of Arts in Music Education at Boston University.

    reberlin@davidson.edu
    Sloan 102**

    **Tea always readily available during office hours

  • Pianist

    Dr. Tomasz Robak is a versatile keyboard artist, in demand as a solo pianist, duo partner, chamber musician, vocal coach, and organist. A winner of the Grand Prix in the 32nd Piano Tournament in Antonin, Poland, he has performed solo recitals and concerti across the United States and in Poland, Austria, and Germany. His collaborative performances include concerts as a member of the Luna Nova Ensemble in Memphis, TN, performances with members of the Charlotte Symphony, frequent duo recitals at Davidson College, and orchestral keyboard performances with the Charlotte Symphony and Winston-Salem Symphony.

    He earned his BM and BA from Rice University and his MM and DMA degrees from Peabody Conservatory. His postgraduate work was at the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland as a Fulbright grantee. In addition to his work as the Artist Associate in Accompanying and Instructor of Organ for the Department of Music at Davidson, he also serves as organist at Myers Park Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

  • Prescott Breitling '23

    President

    I am an English major from Winston Salem, North Carolina. Aside from Chorale, I am also in Chamber Singers, Opera Workshop, and study voice. I have been singing since elementary school and became seriously interested in voice during high school. My freshman year of high school, I sung in Carnegie Hall in NY. I recently studied abroad at Cambridge University in the UK. I will finish my time at Davidson with an independent study on horror literature where I will most likely write a collection of short stories. Apart from being a massive horror fan, I am also a massive heavy metal fan. The only time I have ever skipped Chorale rehearsal was to see Alice in Chains in concert.

    Favorite Chorale Memories: A) Our performance in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Denver during our January 2020 tour. The church had perfect acoustics and we had never sounded better. B) I sang the countertenor solo on Bernstein's Chichester Psalms last spring!

  • Ally Harvel '23

    Student Conductor & Vice President

    Ally Harvel, 2023, is a music and math major from Pinehurst, NC. She sings in the Soprano 1 section and also serves as the music director of After Hours Vocal Jazz. She also enjoys playing piano, writing music, and spending time with her dog Butterscotch.

    Favorite Chorale Piece: Even When He is Silent by Kim Andre Arnesen

  • Ellie Bailey ‘24

    Junior Representative

    Ellie is a Soprano from Arlington, Virginia, studying Political Science and Spanish. She has sung with Davidson’s choirs since the first semester of her freshman year. Prior to Davidson, she grew up playing the viola and violin and sang in a few of her high school’s choral ensembles. When not in chorale, she enjoys taking voice lessons, running, reading, watching videos of cute dogs on the internet, spending time outdoors, and eating Commons’ desserts. After graduation, she hopes to work in policy, law, or diplomacy, and to continue singing in a community or church choir.

    Favorite Chorale Memory: Singing the National Anthem at a men’s basketball game in 2022!

  • Malik Ramadanovic '25

    Sophomore Representative

    I am an intended Psychology and Music double major from Durham, NC. Besides Chorale, I am involved in the Nuances a cappella group, voice lessons, tour guiding, and working at Nummit (the on-campus coffeeshop). In my free time, I love watching and analyzing movies and TV shows, cooking and baking, and playing card/board games. In the future, I plan on researching and practicing music therapy!

    Favorite Chorale Memory: It’s more of a tradition, but Nummit before Chorale, a.k.a. NBC. Every Thursday, an hour before rehearsal, members of Chorale would meet at Nummit to chat and enjoy each other’s company. Through this tradition, I got to know a lot of the people I am friends with today.

  • Joseph Santi-Unger '23

    Senior Class Representative

    Joseph Santi-Unger is a Computer Science and Music Double Major from Los Alamos, New Mexico. He is a member of Chamber Singers, Chorale and its subgroups, After Hours and Collegium. This year he is participating in Opera Workshop. In addition, this is his first semester in the Southern Appalachian ensemble as well as organ lessons.

    Favorite Chorale Piece: Chichester Psalms by Leonard Bernstein

  • Amelia Andreano '23

    Secretary

    Amelia is a senior Biology major and Classics minor from New York City. She is a soprano 2 in Chorale and has been singing her entire life – mostly duets with her younger sister for her family for her younger years, but in choirs and youth operas throughout middle and high school. She is a member and social chair of Turner Eating House on campus and is in the ensemble of Opera Workshop’s Carousel this semester. In her free time, she loves to hike and watch Glee and spend time with her amazing roommates. She hopes to do genetics research on endometriosis in the future when she graduates (very soon!) from Davidson.


    Favorite Chorale memory: Singing Vaclovas Augustinas’s Tykus, Tykus and drinking tea with choralisters on Tea Tuesdays!