Who is in charge of all of this?

Pop Choir is run by Heather Waid and Emily Perez. Heather and Emily love pop music, podcasts, Ramen Kodaiko and statement shoes. Heather Waid serves as Artistic Director. She is an in-demand collaborative pianist who works all over Sacramento and the Bay Area. Heather completed a double Masters Degree in Collaborative Piano and Vocal Performance. You can learn more about Heather (and music!) by checking out her podcast Music Untapped. You can follow her culinary adventures on Instagram. Emily serves as Managing Director. She too has fancy degrees but in Spanish and Sociology. Emily is passionate about teaching adults to sing and play piano through her private music studio Macondo Music. Emily also co-founded the non-profit that incubated Pop Choir, Empire Arts Collective.

I’ve never been in choir, and I’m scared!

Okay, that’s not a question, but… we’ve all been there. Everybody has to start somewhere, and our choir is intentionally designed to be friendly to choral newbies. If you are open to learning and have some time to practice, this is the place for you. We do our best so everyone gets supported as they learn and grow.

Do I have to know how to read music?

No, you don’t have to know how to read music, but we do use sheet music, and you will pick up some music-reading skills along the way through practice and osmosis.

How much practice is required?

This is tricky to answer because each person learns at a different pace. Unless you are phenomenally fast at learning music or a stellar sight-singer, you’ll need to put some practice time in each week. We provide practice tracks to make it easy to practice at home, and some choir members sometimes gather in sectional groups for optional extra practices.

I want to join the choir, but I don’t want to be in the concert/can’t attend the concert or the required dress rehearsal. Can I still join?

Absolutely! The concert is fun, but we think the camaraderie and growth of the journey are the best part. If you want to join us to rehearse but not perform, just let us know in the notes section when you register.

Am I too old? I don’t want to be older than everyone else in the choir!

First of all… no, of course not! One of the things Pop Choir Members say they love is that there are members from their 20s to their 80s. We say that Pop Choir is for everyone aged 18 to 108!

What do you mean by “Pop Music?”

We generally choose music from the 1960s till present-day although occasionally, we may take short forays into other genres. To see a complete list of all the songs we’ve sung to date, check out our past concert setlists!

What is Empire Arts Collective?

We’re so glad you asked. Empire Arts Collective is the non-profit performing arts organization that gave birth to our choir! Empire Arts Collective’s mission is to incubate unique, inclusive performing arts opportunities that create joy and community for a variety of experience levels. To learn more, click here!

Have more questions? Drop us a line!