7 Things You Should Know About ‘AGT’ Golden Buzzer Choir Angel City Chorale
NBC Reading Time: 4 minutes
Angel City Chorale was known as the impressive choir act from season 13 of America’s Got Talent. The adult based group consisted of 165 members at the time of their audition and was already known around the world. There’s 7 things to know about their group in 2022.
This chorale took to the AGT stage and immediately impressed with their audition of “Africa” by Toto, but this group didn’t get their Golden Buzzer in their audition. America’s Got Talent guest judge Olivia Munn gave this group their Golden Buzzer during the judge cut round. From there, this group exceeded expectations, at one point Simon Cowell noted that they were one of the best choirs ever on the show.
1. This Group was Founded in 1993
Angel City Choir was founded way before America’s Got Talent was even on television. This chorale was founded in 1993 by their current artistic director, Sue Fink. Fink founded the chorale with 18 singers at the world-famous McCabe’s Guitar Shop. This group has grown from 18 singers to over 180. The chorale features dedicated singers that perform music of all different genres.
2. Sue Fink is An Accomplished Conductor
Fink found success through Angel City Chorale, as well as her own endeavors. Before creating the group, she studied conducting with the founder of the premier vocal group, Roger Wagner Chorale. While studying with Wagner, she toured internationally with his Grammy Award-winning group.
Outside of Angel City Chorale, Fink also created and conducted the Oriana Renaissance Ensemble and the Los Angeles Women’s Community Chorus. Independently as a singer/songwriter she released two award winning albums. When she’s not with the chorale, she composes and arranges songs for other choral organizations and writes songs for both film and television. On the side, she’s also a private vocal coach.
3. Anyone Can Join the Chorale
The best part about this chorale is that there’s a spot for anybody. As long as you’re over 18 years old you can request to audition for the group. The group splits their year into two sections, spring and fall. The spring section begins in February and concludes with concerts in June, when the fall section begins in September and concludes with concerts in December. The current iteration of the group features 180 vocalists.
4. They Went Viral on YouTube Before America’s Got Talent
During Angel City Chorale’s AGT audition, they performed a beautiful rendition of “Africa” by Toto. They began the performance by snapping their thumbs and slapping their thighs to create the sound of rain and thunder before beginning the song. America was impressed when they first saw this on the AGT stage, but it was already viral online. In 2013, Angel City Chorale published a video of them performing this song on YouTube. In 2022, this video has over 20 million views.
5. The Organization Has Recently Expanded
Due to their success as a group, Angel City Chorale launched a youth group. The adult members of Angel City Chorale work with youth in Los Angeles, so they wanted to create a group that taught the importance of music in lives of children. The Angel City Youth Chorale was created in 2018 to create a greater awareness of the arts in lives. Children in the group learn the basic elements of music and choral singing skills with fellow community members.
6. They Have an Annual Tour of Hope
The Tour of Hope brings music to those who can’t attend traditional music venues. Their tour operates year-round and travels to places like soup kitchen, residential facilities, low-income housing, nursing homes, hospitals, sober living facilities, and more. While the group is in these places, they donate both their performance and personal items, supplies, and toys. The Tour of Hope was established in 1997.
7. They’ve Raised Funds For Foundations Outside of the Los Angeles Area For Tour of Hope
The Tour of Hope was created to give back to the Los Angeles community. Since their fundamentals come from the specific community, they typically don’t travel outside of their region. In the past, Angel City Chorale has fundraised for both Ireland and Cape Town, South Africa during their annual tour. To raise money for the County Mayo Cancer Action Group and historic repair of churches in Ireland, Angel City Chorale performed benefit concerts across the country. In the same vein, the group raised funds for The Amy Foundation in South Africa. At Angel City Chorale’s last benefit concert, the kids receiving the funds sang with the group.
