About Us
Hartnell Community Choir is now an independent non-profit organization.
Directed by Robin Mckee Williams, the Choir is performing through out the Monterey County Area and traveling to performances across the U.S.
to places such as The Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, N.Y., N.Y.
Hartnell Choir was founded in 1960, by Dr. Vahe' Aslanian.
He was the director until 1981, when he retired.
He was followed by many directors over the years:
Ron Howard, Lynn Jemison, Linda Keill, Diana Rosett,
Lucik Aprohamian and Kristen Thompson
Yvonne Weiss, one of the choir members, reported recently
that during her years with Dr. Aslanian (1967-1981),
the choir consisted of 50+ singers and during the
Christmas presentation of the Messiah, it swelled to nearly double.
About 1977 when the Performing Arts building came into existence,
we sang in different churches, the missions and the Salinas High School Auditorium.
Sometimes the Salinas Boy's Choir joined us and later also the Panther Chorus, both part of the Hartnell Conservatory of Music.
(Her kids were part of the Panther Chorus).
We were usually accompanied by an orchestra put together by Dr. Aslanian. Which were The Hartnell Band ,under the direction of Robert Lee or the Hartnell Orchestra. Singers included music teachers, business professionals and the community at large.
There seemed to be a gap between about 1983 and 1995 when the choir dwindled. In 1995, when Linda Keill took the group, the rebuilding began.
Yvonne said that she came back to the choir in 1996 with Linda Keill. The group numbered about 30 then, but when she left the number of singers went down each year. The class was cancelled two different times, which made it difficult to rebuild.
In 1979, the Hartnell Community Chorus premiered the opera
" Tale Of The Sun Goddess Going Into The Stone House" , written by Alan Hovhaness. He was in residence when we rehearsed.
