Our Director

Joaquina Calvo Johnson
Joaquina Calvo Johnson brings to the Chorale a distinguished career as a conductor, performing artist, teacher and clinician. While a professor of music at Yuba College in Marysville for 27 years she conducted the Yuba College Chamber Singers, Symphony Chorus and the Yuba Sutter Youth Chorus. In 1994 the Symphony Chorus was invited to sing at Cambridge, England where they performed in Stratford, Cambridge and London. Presently she is the Artistic Director of the Borgamaria Lyric Opera Company as well, which is beginning its seventh season of bringing regional opera to the Yuba Sutter area. Most recently the Borgamaria Lyric Opera was granted their first NEA Grant for $10,000.00. Joaquina holds a B.A. Degree in Music with an emphasis in violin from California State University Sacramento, her MM degree in vocal performance from the University of Indiana School of Music, a certificate in German Lieder from the Hochschule fur Musik, Salzburg, Austria as well as a Diploma in Operatic Performance from the London Opera Center, London, England.

She has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony, Sacramento Symphony, Camellia Symphony, Stockton Symphony, Auburn Symphony, Yuba Sutter Symphony, London Opera Center, as well as various performances in Germany, Italy and England. She has been heard at the Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento, on the Sacramento Opera Mini Opera Series, the Bach Festival, as a Community Concert Artist and in many concerts and recitals throughout California.

Mrs. Johnson is an active member of ACDA (American Choral Director’s Association) where she has served on the state board, NATS (National Association Teacher’s of Singing) where she has served as Regional Governor, President of the San Joaquin Valley Chapter and presently is Vice President of programs, TCCA (Tri-County Concert Association) Board, MENC, AAUW, and is past president of the Yuba Sutter Regional Arts Council where she serves on the Board of Directors.

She has also been recognized nationally for her work in music education, by her colleagues at Yuba College, and most recently Mrs. Johnson was awarded in 2009 the prestigious DON Award for her contributions to the Arts in the Yuba Sutter area.

She frequently conducts master classes and clinics on the voice and is a highly sought after as a clinician for various music festivals and conferences. Students of Mrs. Johnson have gone on to sing with professional opera companies, symphony orchestras and choral ensembles throughout the United States. She is married to her musician husband, Howard Johnson, and they reside in Yuba City, CA.