Donald Kendrick will step onto the podium one more time for the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra's Stained Glass concert, closing out a tradition he built from the ground up nearly three decades ago. The performance is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Fremont Presbyterian Church, 5770 Carlson Drive in Sacramento, and marks Kendrick's last turn conducting the series as he retires as the organization's founder and music director.
According to the Mountain Democrat, Kendrick founded the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra alongside James McCormick, and the group has been part of Sacramento's cultural life for nearly three decades. That origin story lines up with the group's own account: Kendrick has said he helped establish the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra back in 1996, a detail recounted in an interview with nonprofpod.com. Records from bigdayofgiving.org show the organization was originally registered in 1996 as a California education nonprofit called the Sacramento Symphony Chorus before being renamed the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra in 1997.
A Program Built Around Loss and Light
Saturday's concert, billed on the choral society's website as this historic, final Stained Glass concert featuring the SCSO performing under the baton of the retiring Music Director and Founder, will include an area premiere: Kim André Arnesen's Magnificat has never before been performed locally, per the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra. The rest of the program leans into weighty, devotional repertoire, pairing Richard Burchard's The Seven Last Words of Christ with excerpts from George Frideric Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and his Zadok the Priest, according to the Mountain Democrat.
The performance will also showcase soprano Sarah Sy, organist Elsa Gustafsson, and the SCSO Chamber Ensemble, per the Mountain Democrat's report. The concert is presented in memory of Diane Nunes McCormack, who lived from 1946 to 2026, the choral society notes on its event page. The organization has also made available a video tribute honoring McCormack's legacy, as reported by the Mountain Democrat.
Nearly Thirty Years on the Podium
Kendrick's departure closes out a long run at the helm of an ensemble that has grown considerably under his direction. The group now fields a 150-voice chorus alongside a full professional symphony orchestra, according to bigdayofgiving.org, with singers who live across seven different Northern California counties. Kendrick's tenure with the Sacramento Choral Society mirrors another long chapter in his career: he also spent 33 years directing choral activities at Sacramento State before retiring from that post, as reported by capradio.org.
The Stained Glass series itself has carried emotional weight before. A previous installment, which opened the organization's 30th Anniversary Season under Kendrick's direction, included a farewell organ solo from Dr. Ryan Enright, according to sacramento365.com. Other recent SCSO programs have leaned on premieres to mark milestones — a 2019 season finale paired Mendelssohn's Die Erste Walpurgisnacht and the Hebrides overture with the West Coast premiere of Dan Forrest's LUX: The Dawn From On High, capradio.org reported at the time, while a 2018 farewell concert for Kendrick at Sacramento State featured the West Coast premiere of Forrest's Jubilate Deo alongside works by Dvorak and Respighi.
After the performance, attendees are invited to a reception honoring Kendrick and his contributions to the Sacramento arts community, the Mountain Democrat reports. Free parking for the concert is available at the Scottish Rite Temple at 6151 H Street, according to the Sacramento Choral Society & Orchestra. Readers can find tickets and more information at sacramentochoral.org.
