Centering stories of marginalized communities through programming of underrepresented composers with a roster of underrepresented singers
DARITA SETH, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Headshot by Jaymar Elen
Conductor, Haute-Contre, and composer, DARITA SETH, born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, is Founder, President, and Director of CHORAL AUDACITY, an Associate Director of the Cantabella Children's Chorus, and the Director of Vocal Arts at the New Roads School in Santa Monica. As he departs his residency in the San Francisco Bay Area, he leaves his posts as the Director of Music at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in Danville, California, Associate Director of the Danville Girls Chorus, and Director of Vocal Music at Stoneridge Creek Retirement Community. In 2016, Darita concluded his tenure with Chanticleer, the Grammy Award-winning, San Francisco-based men's vocal ensemble. A Sigma Alpha Iota distinguished member, he periodically appears as a guest soloist with the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, sounding Light Chamber Choir, Reconciliation Singers Voices of Peace, and the Philippine Saringhimig Singers. Darita holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the Conservatory of Music at Capital University. During his undergraduate studies, Darita began studying countertenor while immersed in the sacred early music at Saint Joseph Cathedral in Columbus. He is currently completing his Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at CSU Long Beach, where he proudly resides in its Cambodia Town community. Darita is also a proud alumnus of the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, where he participated in the composition, opera, and choral programs, as well as spending summers working fo the offices of Advancement and Arts Administration. Darita is an active member of ACDA, NATS, and ASCAP.
Praised for his "technical deliciousness; power and precision of the connection between the colors of the voice; and beauty of delivery," (Aspen Music Festival) Darita has been featured in performances of choral masterworks including Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, Durufle's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. Additionally, Darita has recorded with AireBorn Studios (Zionsville, IN), featuring his voice on premiere recordings for various new music publications. As an actively traveling musician, he has performed in many notable international concert venues including Musikverein in Vienna, Austria; The Liszt Grand Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary; Endler Hall in Stellenbosch, South Africa; The National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan; and The Esplanade in Singapore. His voice has led him to sing under the baton of some the nation's leading composers and conductors such as Eric Whitacre, Jake Runestad, Dan Forrest, and Morten Lauridsen.
As a freelance composer, he is recognized by the National youngARTS Foundations, and is actively commissioned to compose and arrange music for church, high school, and collegiate ensembles. Darita is a published choral music editor with Hinshaw Music Publications. Recently, he was a recipient of the John Ness Beck Foundation Scholarship for his piece Whom Shall I Fear.
For 8 years, Darita has called the East Bay of San Francisco home, where he has actively served as clinician, mentor and most importantly a voice instructor for young under-privileged students, many of whom have been in the top ensembles of their school programs and move on to receive acceptance into some of the most competitive collegiate music programs (University of Michigan, University of California Los Angeles, Northwestern University, Oberlin Conservatory). As a proud supporter of every one of his teaching colleagues, he often assists in the large amounts of teaching and administrative work it takes to run a successful program within many non-profits, local schools, and community groups. He often finds himself as guest speaker at many conventions regarding topics such as: Nurturing and Embracing Ethnic Diversity within the choral ensemble; Mysteries of the Countertenor Voice; The Aging Voice; and How To Change Your Church's Singing Culture. Outside of music and teaching, Darita enjoys cooking meals from his proud Cambodian-American heritage, weight-lifting, and being a dog-dad to his American Dingo, Remy Martin.