Ancora from the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir

Global Harmony Presents

Choral Performance


Sunday, May 25th at 4 pm

Gualala Arts Center

tickets are $15 in advance, plus $5 day of and are available at Gualala Arts, the Dolphin Gallery and online at GualalaArts.org. $100 Sponsor Tickets are available online only

Purchase Tickets Here

Ancora of The Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir (PEBCC) will perform at the Gualala Arts Center on Sunday, May 25th at 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 on the day of the event. They can be purchased at Gualala Arts, the Dolphin Gallery, and online at GualalaArts.org.  For those wishing to further support the arts $100 Sponsor Tickets are available online only.

Ancora has created a program specifically for this concert at the Gualala Art Center.  In addition to some gospel, hiphop, a bit of vocal jazz, and a composition by Sue Bohlin of Anchor Bay, the singers will perform some unique music by Olli Kortekangas with texts taken from the Kalevala (the Finnish and Estonian Epic), a setting of an ancient spell in Slovenian set by Slovenian composer Lojze Lebič, and the setting of a first hand account of a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing by Eric Tuan. The audience will be invited to join in the singing on two of the compositions.  This will be choral music that is entertaining, and at times unusual. It will be performed at the highest level.

Ancora, conducted by Robert Geary, is PEBCC’s treble chamber group, composed of high school-age treble voices who pass a rigorous vocal audition. Ancora specializes in contemporary unaccompanied music, performing challenging repertoire in as many as eight parts. Participation in Ancora represents the culmination of many years of choral excellence in PEBCC choirs. All members of Ancora also study voice privately. The group collaborates with composers and arts organizations to present new music, makes recordings, performs for public events, and occasionally tours.

Robert Geary, the Founding Artistic Director and Conductor of Ancora, has placed the Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir in the musical vanguard through his determined advocacy of new music. Under his direction, PEBCC has achieved national and international renown, being the only children’s choir from the U.S. to win a first prize at the Choral Olympics or World Choir Games. Geary and PEBCC have performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.

Geary founded the professional new music vocal ensemble Volti in 1979 and has been Artistic Director of the San Francisco Choral Society since 1995. His choirs have performed at prestigious festivals and with renowned organizations, earning him the Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Professional Choral Art.

The internationally acclaimed Piedmont East Bay Children’s Choir (PEBCC) offers children throughout San Francisco’s East Bay an outstanding program of music training and choral performance. Founded in 1982 by Susan Rahl and Robert Geary, the Choir has performed with notable artists and organizations, including the Barenaked Ladies, Berkeley Symphony, John Denver, and the San Francisco Symphony. The Choir is a leading force in international choral activities, with high marks in competitions worldwide and the establishment of the Golden Gate International Children’s and Youth Choral Festival in 1991.

PEBCC has earned numerous awards, including the “Young Choir of the World” title at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales in 2024. The Choir has also won grand prizes, first prizes, and gold medals at prestigious competitions across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Recognizing the importance of new music, the Choir has commissioned and premiered dozens of works by living composers, contributing to the forward-looking and innovative nature of choral art.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit GualalaArts.org