​​​​​​​Natalie: What keeps you coming back to Choral Festival year after year? 

Diana: Having been a therapist my whole life, there are not a lot of things where I feel I can “put my whole self” into something, emotionally speaking. But when I sing at the Choral Festival, and under Rob Istad’s leadership, I can put my whole self into the music. There are few things in this world where you can experience something like this. I get energized from the rehearsals and I love singing with that many people. That’s why I keep coming back. 

Natalie: Can you share a moment from a past Choral Festival weekend that really moved you—something that reminds you why this event matters? 

Diana: The first year I sang in the Choral Festival, my whole life had changed. I had lost my husband and retired from my job as a teacher on the very same day. But the people I met at the Festival that year were so loving, and so caring. The singers that participate are people who care on the deepest level that one can care. If we are all here to spread love, then I don’t know a better way to do it than at Choral Festival. 

Natalie: What would you say to someone considering supporting Choral Festival financially? 

Diana: Any support for Choral Festival—from sponsoring a rehearsal to covering the costs of sheet music—is an investment in your community: younger generations, older generations, anyone who likes to sing. You are doing something to bond your community together, and even to reunite families who see each other once a year at this Festival. Choral Festival is for the community, by the community of Orange County, and it is so important that it continues.