2025 Italy, Slovenia, & Austria
Peninsula Cantare traveled through Italy, Slovenia, and Austria with 50 singers in June of 2025 for a spectacular concert tour. The choir was joined by the San José State University Choraliers, and performed a cappella concerts as well as a major gala concert in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
The choirs began the trip together in Venice with a concert of a cappella music and then traveled to Ljubljana for a masterworks concert alongside members of the Slovenian Philharmonic. The Gala Concert in Ljubljana included Franz Joseph Haydn’s stunning Mass in Time of War in the main concert hall, the Slovenian Philharmonic Building (Slovenska Filharmonija). The tour ended with Peninsula Cantare singing a solo concert at St. Peter’s Church (Peterskirche) in Vienna, Austria.
2023 Spain & Portugal
In June of 2023, over 40 members of Peninsula Cantare joined the San José State University Choraliers for a concert tour of Spain and Portugal. The choirs began the trip together in Seville with a concert of a cappella music and then traveled to Lisbon for a masterworks concert alongside a professional chamber orchestra. The Gala Concert in Lisbon included Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Nathaniel Dett’s The Chariot Jubilee, and Handel’s Zadok the Priest, all performed in the stunning Santa Catarina Church.
Peninsula Cantare and the SJSU Choraliers were also joined by The Tallahasee Community Chorus, as well as two high school choirs from California, Los Altos HS and Monta Vista HS Choirs.
2018 The Baltics
Peninsula Cantare singers joined with singers from Resounding Achord, and the SJSU Choraliers to tour Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The highlight was a performance of the Mozart Requiem for an enthusiastic audience at the Estonia Concert Hall.
2017 Grace Cathedral, San Francisco
An unexpected opportunity came to the group, through a touch of “grace”! Some members of Peninsula Cantare performed Faure’s Requiem in D minor as a part of the Manhattan Concert Production’s “Cathedral Series.”
2017 Carnegie Hall, New York City
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. And because Dr. Benson was asked to lead the Masterwork Festival Chorus and National Festival Chorus in a performance of Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”, a small group from the Cantare took advantage of this opportunity!
2016 Ireland
Members of Peninsula Cantare joined with San Jose State University choirs in a tour of Ireland, performing Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass at the “Limerick Sings” Festival, in a tour orchestrated by Perform International.
We joined voices with choral groups from California, Texas, Sweden and Ireland, in various venues across Limerick City, such as St. Mary’s Cathedral. In between rehearsals, we took an excursion to the Cliffs of Moher, wandered through ancient castle grounds, kissed the Blarney Stone, sang for the Lord Mayor of Dublin fun, and enjoyed fabulous Irish Music and Dance .
2007 Brazil
Peninsula Cantare and Masterworks Chorale combined to form the “San Francisco Bay Chorale” for concerts in Manaus, Ouro Preto, Petropolis, and Rio de Janeiro. In addition, the choirs visited Brasilia and Iguaçu.
2001 Germany, France, and Spain
Peninsula Cantare and the Northern California Chamber Chorale combined to form the “Northern California Chorale” to tour Germany, France, and Spain. The chorale participated in Mass at the Strasbourg Cathedral and gave concerts in Niederfischbach, Germany, Strasbourg, Thônes, and Avignon, France, Ajaccio, Corsica, and Barcelona, Spain.
1995 England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland
The Peninsula Master Chorale and the Northern California Chamber Chorale combined to tour the British Isles and Ireland. The chorale participated in the Shrewsbury Music Festival.
1988 Australia and New Zealand
The Peninsula Master Chorale went “Down Under” performing in Cairns, Brisbane (1988 World Expo), Sydney, and Auckland.
1984 Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, England
The Peninsula Master Chorale toured western Europe performing in Venice (St. Mark’s Basilica), Innsbruck, Bern, Paris (Notre Dame Cathedral), London (Westminster Cathedral), Ely Cathedral, and Cambridge.
