The Newbury Park Concert Choir is a large, select mixed choir that learns and performs medium to difficult level choral music of varying styles throughout the school year. Performance venues are not only at Newbury Park High School, but also at other sites both locally and throughout the country. The NPHS Panther Chamber Singers meet during the 4th period block daily. It is an elite performing choir of 20-35 singers, chosen by audition from the ranks of the Concert Choir. The Chamber Singers perform throughout the year for school and local community events including the Candlelight Ceremony held every December at DisneyLand.

Both performance ensembles also sing in adjudicated festivals sponsored by the American Choral Director's Association and the Southern California Vocal Association They traveled to Chicago last spring for the Heritage Festival of Gold and ranked in the top tier to earn the honor of performing on the Chicago Symphony stage. They also visited landmark sites and attractions with plenty of fun. Both the Chamber Singers and the Concert Choir consistently receive Gold ratings (90% or above) at this festival and Superior "A" ratings at the Southern California Vocal Association Festival every year. This year they will travel to Seattle in April and attend the regional Heritage Festival.

JOHN K. SARGENT

John is Choral Music Director at Newbury Park High School where he conducts the Concert Choir, Panther Chamber Singers and Chorus. He also teaches Music Theory Advanced Placement, Music Appreciation and serves as music director in the spring musical.

John graduated from California State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Music Degree in voice and music education where he sang in major opera productions and studied under the tutelage of John Alexander. At Littlerock High School in the Antelope Valley, he initiated a choral program from the ground up with an enrollment of over 120 singers in three choirs. From 1990-1993 he served as Assistant Conductor of the Antelope Valley Master Chorale at Antelope Valley College. John recently earned his Master of Music degree in choral conducting at California State University, Los Angeles, where he studied with Dr. William Belan and Donald Brinegar. Also known as "Sarge" this is his fifth year at Newbury Park.