La Jolla Presbyterian Church

Music Director, Dr. Keith Pedersen
(KeithPedersen@pointloma.edu)

Rehearsals

Thursdays at 7pm

Sundays

Seated at 8:15am for the 9am service

CHOIR IS MINISTRY.

                  It’s SERVICE.

                              It’s a COMMUNITY.

Interested? New singers: You’re invited to check us out! Come a few minutes early to our Thursday rehearsal, meet our director and members of the choir, hear about exciting plans for this year. Consider sitting in on a few sessions to give us a try!

Did You Know? . . . You don’t have to commit to “all of it” if you’re not quite ready. Numerous, manageable pathways enable you to participate in the choir how and when you’re ready. Choose any/all avenues that appeal to you and work with your particular schedule.

Here are a few “paths” to joyful singing in service:

Why, It’s A Great Time to Join the Choir!

The Chancel Choir is a ministry of La Jolla Presbyterian Church.

The choir has been leading LJPC’s congregational singing for 110 years and contributing special music to Sunday worship services. And twice each year the choir and guest musicians present classical and contemporary sacred music to the community through the LJPC Concert Series.

Singers include members of the LJPC congregation and community choristers who commit themselves to weekly rehearsals and participation in scheduled worship services and performances. Members come to the choir with a wide variety of singing experiences. And while there are no auditions or attendance requirements, each member is expected to participate in rehearsals and services on a regular basis and contribute to the best of their ability to the missions and success of the choir.

Currently the choir has 45 active members, with 35-40 members singing each Sunday and in our concerts. As members retire from active participation or move away from San Diego, the choir seeks new members to continue its ministries.

With this in mind, we look to the congregation of the church to sustain and grow the choir. We depend on both established and new church members to consider a calling to sing and be part of the music ministry of the church. While the choir will welcome and continue to include singers who are not members of the church, it is from within our church family where the future of the choir is formed.

WAYS TO JOIN

There are many “paths” you can take to become an active member of the Chancel Choir. A conversation with our Music Director will get you started on the path that’s best for you.

Jump Right In . . .

If you have sung in a choir or chorus previously, you might be ready to rehearse on Thursday and sing at service on Sunday. A conversation with our Music Director and a meeting with our Music Librarian before your first rehearsal is all we ask of you.

Need to Know More . . .

Whether you have sung in a choir or not, you might need to know more about our choir, the music we sing, and the details of participation. In this case, we invite you to join us on Thursdays for a few weeks, just sitting in on the rehearsal (and the great fellowship we share) or singing some or all we are working on. Then you can decide whether and when to join us as a member of the choir.

Not “Good Enough” . . .

We are committed to overcoming the “I can’t sing” syndrome in our society! Our members have a wide range of experiences with singing and being member of a choir or chorus. Let us help you evaluate whether you are “good enough” to fit into our choir. We can schedule one-on-one or group sessions to help you with everything from the singing basics to choral techniques.

Mentors for All . . .

Every new singer gets an experienced Chancel Choir member as a “mentor.” Every new singer will have different needs as they get underway with our choir, so our Music Director will select a mentor for you with that in mind.

Too Big A Commitment . . .

You might not have the time with other commitments to be a full-time member of the choir. With some planning, it’s possible for you to participate at certain times of the year and not others, for example, for one or both of our concerts, one or more church festivals, the Fall season but not in the Spring, or the Summer Choir. Most important to the success of each singer and the choir is that you participate regularly in rehearsals and services during the periods that you commit to sing.

WHEN TO JOIN

You can join the choir at any time during the year . . . but there are certain points that might work best for you and for the choir.

Beginning of A New Season . . . Sunday Singers

August . . . is the start of the choir year, and this season ends with Christmas Eve services.

January . . . picks up the choir schedule, beginning lots of new music for Lent and Easter. This season ends in June.

LJPC Concert Series Concerts  . . .  Join the Concert Choir

October . . . Rehearsals for the December 14th Christmas concert begin for new members with a Singing Saturday in October.

April . . . Rehearsals for the Spring Concert on June 7th begin for new members with a Singing Saturday in April.

Church Festivals . . . Sing Christmas Eve and Easter

November . . . we begin rehearsing the music for the 7 and 9pm Christmas Eve services.

March . . . beginning of rehearsals for Holy Week services.

Summer Choir . . .

Four or five weeks in June and July

Joining the Choir begins with checking us out . . . talking with choir members, listening and watching us live or on the church’s YouTube channel, having a conversation with our Music Director, singing with us in a special “Come Sing” session or at Thursday rehearsal, and then giving choir membership a try.

A good start is with a call or note to our Music Director, Keith Pedersen (858-335-3615 or keithpedersen@pointloma.edu).

Whatever your path to our choir, we look forward to sharing with you our joy of singing and music ministry at La Jolla Presbyterian Church.

Pick Your Date

Here’s the “Join the Choir” schedule of events for the year . . .

September . . . “Come Sing” session for congregation and community members

October 11 . . . Singing Saturday, beginning of rehearsals for our December 14th Christmas Concert

November . . . rehearsals begin for Christmas Eve

January 8 . . . First rehearsal of the Spring choir season

February . . . “Come Sing” session for congregation and community members

March . . . rehearsals begin for Holy Week and Easter

April . . . Singing Saturday, beginning of rehearsals for our Spring Concert on June 7th

June/July . . . Summer Choir

Bonus: Music MINISTRY, Choir on Tour!

Our inspirational June 2025 UNITED IN PRAISE tour combined the La Jolla Presbyterian’s chancel choir and Solana Beach Pres’s choir. Our goal was to minister through music in smaller towns that may not even have had a church choir or a local music venue. We brought inspirational music to churches, street corners, and civic halls in Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and old Quebec. It was a privilege to create memorable moments traveling and singing together in historic locations  – churches and cathedrals – visiting the foundational sites of the Presbyterian faith in North America, exploring coastal villages and St Lawrence River provinces of Canada, and feeling blessed to leave in our wake feelings of goodwill and gifts of the heart.

A few highlights of the custom-designed Tour itinerary as we traveled by ship to the Canadian Maritimes and Quebec City:

PORTLAND, MAINE – On a rainy, balmy Maine summer Sunday morning, we sang and shared worship with passers-by . . . followed by a visit to the appropriately named cafe, Holey Donuts

HALIFAX – Enjoyed a fantastic day of fellowship and exploring the charming port city and the stunning coastal scenery at Peggy’s Cove Lighthouse

CAPE BRETON ISLAND – Attended a concert featuring local island music icon Buddy McDonald and made a collaborative donation to benefit local, underserved children with music education and invaluable musical instrument repairs 

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND – A fascinating docent-led tour of historic Kirk of St. James, Charlottetown, was enriched by the church historian’s presentation, our donation to their university-level Choral Scholar’s Program, and our evening concert for an appreciative crowd

QUEBEC CITY – The coup d’etat! We were thrilled to present an evening concert in the Basilica-Cathedral Notre Dame de Quebec in Old Quebec (Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec, Québec-VIEUX , Québec)

OLD QUEBEC – Another privilege wrapped up our music ministry as we helped lead in morning worship at historic St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in the Old City of Quebec. We ended the service with a rousing rendition of a favorite American gospel piece, “Worthy to Be Praised” ~ surrounded by beautiful natural light and great acoustics in this sanctuary. 

Choir MUSIC MINISTRY tours are a triennial choral activity. If a future LJPC MUSIC MISSION trip interests you as a musician or a groupie. . . the LJPC Chancel Choir typically tours every 3 years and would welcome your participation! Sign up for emails to stay tuned for news of our next venture, slated for June 2028! Contact Candace Magee for more information: cmageesd@gmail.com or CandaceM@LJPres.org.