Saturday night at the Sacramento Choral Society’s fundraising party “Raising a Voice for the Arts,” James McCormick, SCSO president, announced that Wells Fargo Bank would underwrite the cost of two concerts. One is the annual Home for the Holidays, which is now renamed The Wells Fargo Home for the Holidays. The second Wells Fargo sponsored concert will be given on Armed Forces Day on May 18, 2013, named “Lest We Forget,” and is to be dedicated to the armed forces. Hundreds of choral supporters who had gathered at the Temporary Contemporary Art Gallery for the party enthusiastically welcomed the stunning development. While never operating in the red or even coming close to the financial

Thousands of IHSS workers and consumers from both ends of California ringed the capitol today in a continuation of their 10 day campaign to convince the governor and the legislature to end the financial assault on home care in California. I spoke to care providers from around the state while preparations were being made for the march around the capitol. I learned that from Los Angeles County alone, forty buses, with fifty passengers apiece, had travelled all night to bring caregivers and some of their disabled clients to Sacramento for this demonstration. Gabrielle Thomas told me that she works for a consumer who is totally dependent on his caregivers to stay alive. He is tube fed, has a

I   For the first time in history, today on the grounds of the state Capitol, representatives from all the unions that represent home care workers in the state of California gathered to protest further cuts to the states IHSS program. Nearly 2000 people, including care providers, recipients and supporters, clustered under shade canopies before the South steps of the Capitol, listening to speakers, chanting supportive slogans, and blowing bright yellow horns to punctuate the presentations. The speakers were care providers and union members who had come from across the state to educate the public and especially the legislature on the role home care plays in keeping the state's health ca

A great choral performance can transport one from the world of mundane cares to the lofty realm of shining aspirations. Since 1996 the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra has been providing such transportation to this community with world class performances of great choral works. An under-appreciated gem, the organization has often given dazzling performances of major works to lean houses. The night of June 2 saw another brilliant performance by this outstanding group, but this time to a packed house at Fremont Presbyterian Church. The classical choral genre is sometimes seen as inaccessible by listeners whose tastes run to more popular forms of vocal music, but Director Dr. Donald K