Southern California Choral Artists was founded in 2021 as a non-profit arts organization. We are an auditioned chamber choir of about 40 members who love sharing the joy of choral singing with each other and our community. Our regular season consists of at least 4 concerts featuring a variety of musical genres and styles.
Because we seek to create meaningful musical experiences, we value interaction and education in our performances. Our audience members often tell us how much they love learning about the music from our director’s comments, which help them more fully enter into the music and enjoy it.
We also love to collaborate with other arts organizations, including school choirs, community choirs, and orchestras. We have had multiple joint concerts with the MSJC College Singers and have performed with the Temecula Valley Symphony and Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra.
We rehearse on Monday evenings at the beautiful Murrieta Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church, and our regular performance venue is the acoustically-exquisite Grace Presbyterian Church in Temecula. Our regular performance season runs from mid-August through May. We invite experienced singers to join us, and hold auditions by appointment.
Southern California Choral Artists seeks to enrich people’s lives by creating vibrant and meaningful musical experiences that engage the heart and mind.
We will strive to provide high-quality rehearsals and performances that will foster the wellbeing of our performers and audiences, inspire and develop musicians of all ages, and promote the ongoing appreciation and enjoyment of the choral arts.
Eric is a music educator, church musician, singer, and choral director. He is a tenured, full-time music faculty member of Mt. San Jacinto College, where he directs the College Singers and teaches music theory, ear training, music appreciation, and private voice lessons. Prior to taking the position at MSJC, he was adjunct faculty at Riverside City College for four years, teaching voice and serving first as Assistant Director and then Conductor of the Riverside Master Chorale. He directed the Temecula Valley Symphony Chorus from its formation in 2015 through the Spring of 2021. Eric founded a new arts organization, the Southern California Choral Artists, in the Summer of 2021.
In 2020 he began a summers-only program at Cal State University Los Angeles, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting, studying with Dr. Christopher Gravis, Dr. William Belan, and the esteemed Donald Brinegar. This revolutionary program has deeply impacted his approach to the choral arts and was part of the inspiration for forming his own performing ensemble.
With degrees in both Church Music and Bible, Eric serves on the leadership team and leads worship at Grace Bible Church of Murrieta – the reason he and his wife moved from the east coast to California in 2010. He is thankful to God for the many opportunities to intersect with people’s lives through shared musical experiences. His favorite musicians are his wife Heidi Jeanne, their older son Xander, who joined the ensemble in 2014, and Zeke, who made his debut in October 2021 with some pretty strong lungs.
Diego Guerra is a Southern California-based conductor, violist, violinist, and educator originally from Monterrey, Mexico. He serves as Associate Conductor of Orchestra Tutti and Assistant Conductor for the Civic Youth Orchestra’s landmark 70th anniversary season, alongside upcoming debuts with the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra and Southern California Choral Artists. Guerra’s guest conducting highlights include productions with the Pacific Lyric Association, Villa Musica, and San Elijo Dance Academy, as well as competing as the sole Latin American representative in the 2020 Denver Philharmonic Conducting Competition.
An active orchestral performer, Guerra is the Principal Violist of Orchestra Tutti and Principal Second Violin of the Temecula Valley Symphony, performing regularly across the region. He holds a degree from the SDSU School of Music, where he studied under Travis Maril and Michael Gerdes, and is the co-founder of the San Diego Philharmonic, established to support the Comunidad de Luz migrant shelter in Tijuana.
