Where Voices Meet: How SDSU Choirs Bring Community to Life

San Diego State University choral ensembles offer both a harmonious art form for audiences to enjoy and an opportunity for both prospective and experienced singers to find community, united by a shared love of music.

“Listening to a choir sing a piece of music shares that story in a way unlike any other way of sharing it,” said Arian Khaefi, director of Choral Studies at SDSU.

Khaefi, an associate professor in the School of Music and Dance, conducts two of SDSU’s main three choirs, teaches choral literature, and directs the graduate choral conducting program.

“I’ve loved creating music with student singers and watching our students’ vocal growth and musical growth as we learn repertoire together and dive into these incredible texts – these lyrics that we sing,” Khaefi said.

One of the biggest highlights for Khaefi is immersing himself in the music that the choir performs. Khaefi finds joy in interpreting the music, lyrics, and history of music, where it comes from, and discovering what inspired each composer.

The three choirs at SDSU are the University Choir, also called U-Choir, Treble Choir, and Chamber Choir.

U-Choir is an introductory choir, focused on inclusivity and open to those with minimal vocal experience, with no auditions required.

“We want to make sure that there’s a choir for anyone at any skill level,” Khaefi said.

“It’s a really great choir to get started on all that,” he continued.

Singers with stronger musicianship, music-reading skills, and formal training are encouraged to audition for the more competitive Treble or Chamber Choirs.

U-Choir generally consists of 50 to 80 participants, giving members the opportunity to be part of a large choral experience. Treble Choir typically consists of 40 to 60, while Chamber Choir is capped at 24.

Chamber is an advanced mixed voices ensemble of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. They perform anything from songs from a thousand years ago to new compositions and commissioned work, including pop, jazz, and musical theatre arrangements. They also sing in different languages from around the world, including Farsi, Estonian, Latin, Greek, Mandarin, and more.

Treble choir consists of exclusively treble voices, meaning sopranos and altos only. They also sing lyrics from all over the world and any time period.

U-Choir, taught by Ramon Cadenas, Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education, typically performs more contemporary repertoire, including pop arrangements, new commissions, and classical.

“We do really great music from every single time period, including music written today,” Khaefi said.

These choirs are not limited to majors in the School of Music and Dance – any student can participate or audition, regardless of their major.

“We have physics majors, math majors, psych majors, and people in the school of nursing singing in Chamber Choir,” Khaefi said.

All three choirs also participate in the Open University Program, which allows members of the public not enrolled at SDSU to participate in certain classes and activities. This program applies to any ensembles in Music and Dance, including the orchestra, band, and jazz combos.

“Singing and playing in an ensemble is a really wonderful social activity, in addition to an academic one, and I think it’s a great service that the university provides to the greater community,” Khaefi said.

Khaefi has been on parental leave during the fall 2025 semester after he and his wife welcomed a new baby, but he will return next semester and encourages the community to take an opportunity to appreciate the art that is SDSU’s choirs.

“To come and listen to a choir sing a piece of music – you get to really be moved by words and you get to really be moved by these beautiful harmonies and watch people come together to create something really powerful,” Khaefi said.

Upcoming performances for the SDSU Choirs include:

• Mar. 17 at 7 p.m.: Chamber Choir, Treble Choir, and University Choir at the Main Stage
• Apr. 11 at 4 p.m.: Chamber Choir, First United Methodist 2025-26 Music Series: Electroacoustic Music with SDSU (Free)
• Apr. 25 at 7 p.m.: Chamber Choir, Treble Choir, and University Choir at the Main Stage

For more information, visit the events calendar for the SDSU College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts.