RICHMOND, California, April 17, 2024: It is with deep sadness that the Contra Costa Chorale announces the death of Artistic Director Cindy Beitmen on Monday, April 15, 2024, of colorectal cancer that had metastasized to her brain.
Born in eastern Pennsylvania on December 29, 1953, Cindy spent her entire life making music, from her B.S. in music education to her final days as the brilliant director of the 58-year-old Contra Costa Chorale. She spent a number of years focusing on early music, writing her Master’s thesis at the University of Washington on Hildegard von Bingen, and, once in the Bay Area, establishing Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble. Her early music expertise led to a position teaching both vocal and instrumental early music classes at Mills College. While there, she assisted Mills students in reestablishing the Mills College Choir—her first effort at building a community choir, which invited not just students but also alumnae, Mills staff, and community members to participate. She spent almost 20 years teaching voice and leading a choir at St. Albert Priory in Oakland.
Cindy Beitmen’s dream was always to establish a community chorus, one where everyone was welcome and the community was as important as the singing—and where everyone understood that the singing enriched the community in ways that no other group activity can. In 2012, she heard about a small chorus that was seeking a director. It was a match made in choral heaven, and her first concert as director of the Contra Costa Chorale (Chorale), titled simply “Hallelujah,” was presented in the fall of that year.
From that time on, Cindy and the Chorale became a collaborative team, enlarging the group, improving vocal technique, and especially building the tight-knit community that it has become. Even through the pandemic lockdown, Cindy and the core of the Chorale stayed in touch and a year later began singing, albeit masked and distanced.
Today the Chorale has close to 80 members, all of whom are now striving to present a two-performance concert on May 11 and 12 that will celebrate Cindy’s life and legacy. Dr. Edith Copley, a world-renowned choral director, will be the guest conductor.
Additionally, “Seed,” a special choral work, that was commissioned two years ago by the Chorale board to celebrate Cindy’s tenure with the group, will be premiered at this concert, conducted by the composer, Joan Szymko, a universally known creator of exciting and challenging choral works.
While the Contra Costa Chorale grieves the loss of its “Fearless Leader,” Cindy would be the first to say that the show must go on. Advance tickets for the concert performances in Kensington (May 11, 5pm) and Walnut Creek (May 12, 5pm) are available at https://ticketstripe.com/cocochorale.
Saturday, May 11 at 5:00PM – Live performance and Livestream
Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley
1 Lawson Road, Kensington
Sunday, May 12 at 5:00PM – Live performance
Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church
1801 Lacassie Avenue, Walnut Creek
Advance ticket prices: $20 General, $15 Students/Seniors/Disabled
Door ticket prices: $25 General, $20 Students/Seniors/Disabled
All Children under 12–Free Admission always
Purchase tickets online at the advance discount price: https://ticketstripe.com/cocochorale
For further information, please contact cocochorale@gmail.com, or call at 510-730-0202.