The 2025 National Conference will feature five nights of outstanding concerts in Dallas, Texas on March 18-22, 2025. The featured ensembles ere invited to perform to showcase their exceptional artistic merit and unique choral perspectives. This week, we feature the Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
Santa Fe Desert Chorale
Founded in 1982 by Lawrence “Larry” Bandfield, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale is one of the longest-running professional music organizations in New Mexico, as well as one of the most distinguished American professional chamber choirs. “The Santa Fe Desert Chorale [is] a top-notch, 24-voice group… comprising the crème de la crème of professional choral singers from coast to coast” (Dallas Morning News). Performing in historical venues such as the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, the Desert Chorale has become a centerpiece of the cultural life of Santa Fe. Their annual Summer Festival is one of the nation’s largest choral events.
Artistic Director Joshua Habermann has led the Chorale since 2008 in repertoire spanning seven centuries, from early polyphony to contemporary works. Habermann’s versatile programming sets the ensemble apart as “a rara avis in the choral music world” (Santa Fe New Mexican).
The Chorale’s first commercial release, The Road Home, launched at No. 3 on the Billboard Classical Chart following a sold-out CD launch program in Santa Fe. The ensemble has traveled across the nation, performing in prominent conferences and cities such as Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles. In 2021, the Chorale began offering access to full video recordings through their streaming service, Desert Chorale TV (watch.desertchorale.org), sharing the beauty and power of choral music to a wider audience across the country and around the world.
Throughout its history, the Chorale has maintained a commitment to give voice to music from Hispanic and Native American communities. Dedicated to advancing the composers of our time, the Chorale has also commissioned over 30 new works. Several additional works have been given their world or American premieres by the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. The organization’s Commissioning Club selects and funds a new commission annually.
While nationally recognized, the Chorale prides itself on its strong relationships within the community of Northern New Mexico. Since 2016, the Chorale has hosted an annual community singing workshop, Santa Fe Sings!, bringing together music-lovers of all backgrounds to express themselves through song under the direction of Joshua Habermann. The following year, the Chorale launched its Hearts in Harmony program, providing access to the healing power of music to those experiencing homelessness in Santa Fe through weekly hour-long song circles at the Interfaith Community Shelter. Through its Insights & Sounds program, the Chorale also presents free mini-concerts for children to introduce them to the beauty and power of great choral music, along with education workshops and masterclasses for local high school students.
Joshua Habermann is in his sixteenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premiere professional chamber choirs. Since joining the ensemble, he has broadened its repertoire to include choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences ranging from early music to new commissions. Under his leadership, the Desert Chorale has been featured at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and its summer and winter festivals are among America’s largest choral events.
Habermann’s experience with symphonic choruses spans over three decades, encompassing the full range of the choral-orchestral repertoire. From 2011 to 2022 he was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, where highlights included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor, and in 2022-2023 prepared Handel’s Messiah, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem for the San Francisco Symphony.
A passionate advocate for music education, Joshua Habermann is a regular clinician for state and national events and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 2024, he conducted Cantatas 72, 73 and 92 for Bach Santiago (Chile), a concert series dedicated to the first full cycle of Bach Cantatas in South America. He currently teaches choral literature at the University of North Texas.As a singer (tenor), Habermann has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling and Conspirare under Craig Hella Johnson. Recording credits include Requiem and Threshold of Night, both GRAMMY® nominees for best choral recording. Recordings as a conductor include The Road Home and Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil with the Desert Chorale.
To learn more and follow the latest news about the 2025 ACDA National Conference, join us at https://acda.org/archives/events/2025-national-conference. For questions, email us at .
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