The Santa Cruz Chorale is a non-profit organization founded in 1983, performing a wide-ranging repertory including works from the 16th century through music of our time. It was founded and initially directed by Mary Lynn Place Badarak as a community based volunteer adult chorus. In addition to her work as a Lecturer for the Department of Music at UC Santa Cruz, Ms. Badarak developed the chorus until it was selected to be included in a nation-wide performance of the Mozart Requiem at Carnegie Hall.
In addition, the Chorale has made two international tours: the first to Northern Italy and Croatia, and the second to Spain, both under the leadership of Paul Vorwerk. Although several members of the Chorale are professional musicians and some direct musical groups of their own, all volunteer their time, and most are amateurs in the original sense of that word: people who seriously pursue an art for the love of it.