LA Children's Chorus Launches 40th Anniversary with Benefit Concert, 2/22

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus launches its landmark 40th anniversary season with Every Child Sings, a celebratory benefit concert that brings together the choir’s devoted community of families, alumni, and supporters to commemorate the Choir’s remarkable legacy and forward trajectory, on Sunday, February 22, 2026, 7 pm, at Colburn School’s Zipper Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Proceeds from the event benefit LACC’s award winning music education programs and need-based scholarship fund, ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has an opportunity to find their voice through song.

The festivities feature performances by more than 200 singers in six LACC choirs, including the LACC Alumni Celebration Choir, created specifically for the occasion with more than two dozen alumni from across the country, and LACC’s newest choir – LACC@HOLA – which was launched in 2024 on the HOLA campus in Lafayette Park to reach underserved youth in Central and South Central Los Angeles and currently includes 40 singers ages 9 to 11. This will be its first performance outside the HOLA facility. Also performing are LACC’s highly regarded Chamber Singers, Chorale, Concert Choir, and Young Men’s Ensemble, which provides an opportunity for boys with changing voices to continue to sing through the vocal transition.

The repertoire features an eclectic mix of favorite contemporary and timeless works requested by the choristers and alumni themselves, capped by the combined choirs singing LACC’s beloved unofficial anthem, “Here’s to Song,” by Canadian composer Allister MacGillivray.

LACC Artistic Director Malvar-Ruiz conducts the Chamber Singers, Chorale, Concert Choir, and Combined Choirs. LACC Associate Artistic Director Fred Meads leads LACC@HOLA. Eric Lifland conducts the LACC Alumni Celebration Choir and Young Men’s Ensemble.

LACC Executive Director Susan Miller Kotses says, “Los Angeles Children’s Chorus is deeply committed to providing access to the transformational power of choral music to young people who reflect the region’s richly diverse racial, economic, and cultural fabric. As we observe our 40th anniversary, we proudly acknowledge all those who have been a part of the LACC family since its inception.”

Malvar-Ruiz adds, “The strength of LACC is our not only our incredibly talented and dedicated choristers but also our world-class staff. We have the best team of people imaginable. That includes LACC’s conductors as well as our choir managers, musicianship teachers, vocal coaches, collaborative pianists, board members, and administrative staff. Every time there is applause, I take a bow for all of them.”

Los Angeles Children’s Chorus was formed in 1986, with just 50 young singers who were recruited for a local performance with the William Hall Chorale of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, a moving anti-war manifesto that prominently features the ethereal sound of a children’s choir to underscore the tragic impact of war on the young. Since that fateful engagement, LACC has never looked back, growing into a cultural powerhouse. LACC is now widely recognized as one of the world’s preeminent youth choirs, lauded as “hauntingly beautiful” (Los Angeles Times), and “one of the true artistic gems of Los Angeles” (Gustavo Dudamel). The Choir annually serves more than 500 children ages 6–18 from 40 communities across Southern California through its seven choirs and two first experience classes, First Experiences in Singing and Next Experiences in Singing. More than 30% of choir members receive scholarships.

Concert tickets are $90. Sponsor tickets ($600) also include a pre-concert dinner at 5 pm, at Vespaio, a restaurant located in downtown LA. Livestream tickets ($25) include a link to live stream the concert from home. A range of other event sponsorship packages are also available. For tickets and information, please visit www.lachildrenschorus.org or call (626) 793-4231 x 118.