About the Choir Program
About the Choir Program
Embedded Files
Our core purpose is joy! The Ponderosa Bruin Choirs will be given many opportunities to advance and represent our program throughout California this year. Ponderosa Choir singers are always expected to strive for excellence, but the end goal is to find joy growing as musicians, joy collaborating as a choir, and joy sharing our music with family and community. All our daily habits of excellence, kindness, personal responsibility, engaging in learning, hard work, and creativity contribute to this core purpose. It is my goal to help each student have a great experience this year!
The Choirs
The Choirs
Treble Chorus
Treble Chorus
Perfect for the new chorister with a female or unchanged voice, this group focuses on developing the fundamentals of vocal technique, singing with confidence and independence, and reading and understanding sheet music and music theory.
Baritone Chorus (Not offered for '26–27)
Baritone Chorus (Not offered for '26–27)
Perfect for the new chorister with a changed male voice, this group focuses on developing the fundamentals of vocal technique, singing with confidence and independence, and reading and understanding sheet music and music theory.
Concert Choir
Concert Choir
Our large ensemble made up of mixed voices, this group focuses on further developing musicianship skills and performing more challenging and expressive repertoire. This group requires an audition for admittance to demonstrate some skill in vocal technique and music literacy, all of which can be learned in the beginning choirs.
Inspire Chorus
Inspire Chorus
A choir dedicated for Ponderosa students in the Inspire program. This class learns the basics of singing with good vocal technique, reading and understanding sheet music, and developing performance skills.
Bruin Vocal Jazz
Bruin Vocal Jazz
An auditioned small group dedicated to singing vocal jazz and a cappella arrangements. This group meets every Tuesday and Thursday during Flex and Lunch, outside of regular class hours as an extracurricular ensemble.
The Singing Bruins
The Singing Bruins
The combined total forces of all the Ponderosa Bruin Choirs, the Singing Bruins performs all together on stage at every concert!
Meet the Director
Meet the Director
Craig Mason (he/him) comes from the Bay Area, where he grew up as a proud Band Geek, playing the clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophones, flute, guitar, and bass. He discovered the joy of choir in high school and fell in love with collaborative vocal music in college.
Mr. Mason first attended De Anza College, where he earned an Associate of Arts degree in Music, singing under the direction of Dr. Ilan Glasman. Mr. Mason then went on to San José State University to study under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Benson, earning his Bachelor of Music degree with a dual emphasis in Choral Music Education and Music Composition. While at SJSU, Mr. Mason performed for four years in the 96-voice Concert Choir and in the 36-voice chamber ensemble, the world-renowned Choraliers, serving as the bass section leader for two years. With the Choraliers, Mr. Mason performed all around California, New York at Carnegie Hall, and Northern Europe, on performance tours to England, France, and Ireland.
Mr. Mason is an active performer in both vocal and instrumental disciplines. He sings with the Sacramento Master Singers as a Bass I/Baritone, and will be performing in the pit orchestra for multiple musicals this coming year!
The Booster Club
The Booster Club
The PHS Choir Booster Club is a Non-Profit organization made up of parents of current students in the choir program who fund all of the incredible opportunities we offer. Without an official governing board and donations from families, the booster club cannot provide funding for all the events and materials for the choir, including (but not limited to):
Concert Attire
Music Festivals
Event Hosting & Food
Annual Spring Trip
Hiring Guest Conductors and Collaborative Pianists
Honor Choir Opportunities
Sound System Upkeep
If you see any of our board members at concerts or other events, please make sure to thank them!
President — Christina Huggett
Vice President — Alison Harnden
Secretary — Naomi Cambridge
Treasurer — Andrea Vanderpol
And one of the best things you can do to help keep this whole thing going for your kids is to get involved!
Our History
Our History
1963–65 Lyman Saltzen
1963–65 Lyman Saltzen
1965–68 Roger Foss
1965–68 Roger Foss
1968–69 Norma Brown
1968–69 Norma Brown
1969–70 June Nygard
1969–70 June Nygard
1970–97 Lorna Perpal
1970–97 Lorna Perpal
1997–2011 Janet Matranga
1997–2011 Janet Matranga
2011–17 Erin Bailey
2011–17 Erin Bailey
2017–18 Sarah Cunningham
2017–18 Sarah Cunningham
2018–20 Lucy Nisbet
2018–20 Lucy Nisbet
2020–22 Santiago Sabado
2020–22 Santiago Sabado
2022– Craig Mason
2022– Craig Mason
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