A message from our 1st Vice President

August 2025

Dear Friends of the Community Chorus,

This is a very exciting year for the Chorus. There is so much to talk about on our 50th anniversary! The Port Townsend and East Jefferson Community Chorus continues our tradition of providing great music and an open, friendly environment for musical exploration. Your ongoing financial contributions, support from the Port Townsend community and businesses, and our members provide the fuel to keep us moving forward.

In March we held our first Fabulous Fat Tuesday Mardi Gras fundraising event, with support from many local musicians and artists. It was a huge success, with many people asking us if we were going to it again next year. Stay tuned!

For our Spring 2025 concert, we brought Shawn Kirshner, a world-renowned composer, arranger, and songwriter based in Los Angeles, to Port Townsend. We performed a concert composed of Shawn’s music in cooperation with Peninsula Singers (from Sequim), Summertime Singers, and Rainshadow Chorale. We held performances in Port Townsend, Sequim, and Chimacum to rave reviews, including from Shawn who played the piano and conducted several pieces. It was magical to have the composer of the music meet with the chorus, coach us, and perform with us. A very rare opportunity indeed.

The Community Chorus is expanding! We are pleased to announce that, after 5 years of absence, Leslie Lewis and Elise Sinclair are organizing a PT Youth Chorus and a Young Adult Chorale and a PT Women’s Chorus under the Community Chorus umbrella. All three groups have already started rehearsals! They will be predominantly self-funded with financial support from PTCC for any attendees who are unable to afford the registration fees.

Our Winter 2025 concert brings back our quinquennial tradition (we had to skip 2020): Handel’s Messiah. We are presenting the Messiah in collaboration with Rainshadow Chorale. It is a significant undertaking for both groups, due to the cost of putting on a full production. The Messiah is a masterpiece of Western music, a deeply moving oratorio that has captivated audiences for centuries. The fact that it is in English also makes it very accessible. The concerts will be on Saturday, November 22nd and Sunday, November 23rd. Both concerts will be at te Chimacum High School (91 W Valley Rd, Chimacum, WA).

The Spring 2026 concerts will be in April, exact content and dates will be determined in January 2026

We thank you for your support and appreciate your help. We look forward to seeing you in the audience!

Sincerely,
David Segleau,
408-420-7350 1st VP, Board of Directors,
Port Townsend and E. Jefferson County Community Chorus

• David Segleau, 1st VP
• Linda Atkins, President