University of North Florida Chorale

The Chamber Singers are the most select choral ensemble at UNF and serve as the primary fundraising and touring ensemble and typically perform ten to twenty concerts throughout the academic year. This versatile group was spotlighted on the world stage as they sang the national anthem to open the 2012 Florida Republican Debate, broadcast live on CNN-HD to over 5 million people. Their repertoire covers a wide range of styles, from Monteverdi to Whitacre to Britten, and also spans the genres of world music and vocal jazz. The UNF Chamber Singers and the “President’s Own” are available for bookings through the conductor. Chamber Singers rehearse Tuesdays and Thursdays 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and a 30-minute sectional each week in the Fine Arts Center, Building 45, Room 1404. Admission to those who bring a high level of excellence and enthusiasm to both solo and choral music performance follows a rigorous audition process that is held prior to each academic year.

The group’s conductor, Dr. Cara Tasher, a member of the University of North Florida faculty since 2006, has garnered experience as singer, chorus master and/or conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Conspirare, Glen Ellyn Children’s Chorus, Mexico City’s Opera de Bellas Artes, Portugal’s Vocalizze Festival, Trinity Choir-Wall Street, Xavier University, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and has also prepared choruses for Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic and most recently, Josh Groban. She has performed and recorded with conductors Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Christoph Eschenbach, James Levine, Robert Shaw, and Sir Georg Solti. Proficient in several languages, Tasher’s concerts, workshops, and guest performing engagements as both a singer and a conductor have brought her to over twenty countries. She studied at University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, University of Texas at Austin, La Sorbonne, and Northwestern University where she received several honors and awards. Dr. Tasher is active within the national and global community through ACDA, IFCM and NATS. She was awarded the 2010 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award at the University of North Florida, co-presented with Dr. James Hall in Korea at the World Symposium of Choral Music in 2014 and won the University Outstanding International Leadership Award in 2016.