Fun Times Singers

	The Fun Times Singers

You have come to the locator page for the Fun Times Singers of Saratoga, California (CA). The purpose of this page is to introduce you to a choral singing group that serves the many communities of the Santa Clara valley. We suggest that you follow this link to our main page which is the home page of our community chorus dedicated to singing popular contemporary music in an atmosphere that is fun and educational.

Fun Times Singers Home Page

The remainder of this page provides an elaboration of some of our key concepts and is designed to provide the web search engines with enough content so that our key words make sense. We recommend that you follow the above link to the Fun Times Singers home page for a more organized presentation of our story.

We like to call ourselves a chorus, although some people might describe our group as a chorale. We have found that to many people, chorale implies a group that is dedicated to singing sacred music, mostly classical, whereas a chorus is a more general group of community members getting together to sing secular, non-religious music. This is a better description of our community chorus, since we sing mostly contemporary non-religious popular secular music that is recognizable by the community we serve. It should be noted however that we are not adverse to singing music from the many religions of the world. Our main criteria for selecting music is that it is appealing to our listening audience and is fun to sing in a group choral setting.

What is choral singing? Well it is best described as multi-part music sung by many voices for each part. Our group is large enough to support six or seven singers per part, so if you are just learning chorale singing, you will find it comforting to know that you can sing alongside other more experienced singers. We select contemporary music that is primarily arranged in four parts commonly called SATB (Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass) arrangements, although our group is large enough to support splitting the Sopranos and the Altos into another two parts. So we do commonly have music that incorporates a first and second Soprano part and a first and second Alto part. Also, depending on the make up of the chorus, we include three part SAB (Soprano, Alto, Baritone/Bass) and two part (treble and bass).

Background

The Fun Times Singers is a choral group that provides music education, performance opportunities, group singing, and socialization. It is an intergenerational and multiethnic chorus of men and women who enjoy singing contemporary secular musical arrangements, and sharing them with others who find fun in music. The Fun Times Singers is a nonprofit organization led by a volunteer Board of Directors.

The chorus began with six singers in 1992 and has flourished and grown to include from about 60-80 choral members each season. The chorus has been fortunate to have attracted directors from the Santa Clara county whose musical talent and experience infuse the concert program with rhythm and magic.

We sing songs that delight the ear and the soul. We sing a variety of music, with the exception, usually, of classical. Some examples are contemporary and standard pop music from both early and current movies and Broadway hits, including works by composers such as Rodgers, Webber, Lerner, Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Bernstein, etc. We also sing patriotic songs, spirituals, folk, etc. Our holiday concert is a mix of Hanukkah, Christmas, and secular songs of the season.

Chorus members come from all over Santa Clara County, also known as Santa Clara valley or Silicon Valley. For instance, Tonya commutes from Palo Alto to Campbell because she enjoys singing and socializing with the other choral members. Then there is Brent who has lived and sung in communities all over California and now has settled in the Santa Clara valley and enjoys singing our popular repertoire. Other current singers come from Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Mountain View, San Jose, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale.

There are no auditions required to join the chorus -- just a love of music and singing. The director might ask newcomers to sing some musical scales in order to place them in the correct section (bass, tenor, alto, or soprano). We sing four part (SATB), three part (SAB), and two part music. One of the best things of being a member of this working chorus is that practice tapes and CDs are provided, as well as Midi files that can be played from a computer, so we can practice our parts at home, in the car, or at work (during breaks of course).

While our main goal is to delight our audiences with a professional performance, we also want to have fun doing it. A great part of that enjoyment for choral members is the weekly practices, during which we learn not only the music, lyrics, and parts, but also about each other and how best to work together to produce a joyful sound.

In addition to achieving excellence in blending their voices in four-part harmony, members also have the opportunity to perform solos and small group musical numbers as part of our concerts.

Internally, many choral members serve on committees that divide the behind-the-scenes workload, such as publicity, membership, musical copyright clearance, etc. Chorus members not only attend practices and perform in concerts, but also are involved in community service. Through their musical performances, they seek to educate their audiences about various types of music, and to bring the joy of music into the lives of folks who might not otherwise have the opportunity of sharing live music.

Here is a list of links in the Fun Times Singers site .

Home Page
Concert Schedule
Join Us
Support Us
Contact Us
Our Organization
Musical Direction
Past Programs
Useful Links
Member Stories
Photo Gallery
Music Education

Member's Area
At Rehearsal
At Performance
Member Roster
Music Files

Past Programs:

spring 2002
summer 2002
winter 2002
spring 2003
summer 2003
winter 2003
spring 2004
summer 2004
winter 2004
spring 2005
summer 2005
winter 2005
spring 2006
summer 2006
winter 2006
spring 2007
summer 2007
winter 2007
spring 2008
summer 2008
winter 2008
spring 2009
summer 2009
winter 2009
spring 2010
summer 2010
winter 2010
spring 2011
summer 2011
winter 2011
spring 2012
summer 2012
winter 2012
spring 2013
summer 2013
winter 2013
spring 2014
summer 2014
winter 2014
spring 2015
summer 2015
winter 2015
spring 2016
summer 2016
winter 2016
spring 2017
summer 2017
winter 2017
spring 2018
summer 2018
winter 2018
spring 2019
summer 2019
winter 2019
spring 2020
summer 2020
winter 2020
spring 2021
summer 2021
winter 2021
spring 2022
summer 2022
winter 2022
spring 2023
summer 2023
winter 2023
spring 2024
summer 2024
winter 2024