Palomar Started With 100 Students in Vista. Now Its Choir Is Coming Home. |
The Oct. 17 reunion in San Marcos is putting 80 years of music history back onstage. |
Before Palomar College had a San Marcos campus, it had 100 students.
It had space at Vista High School.
And it had music.
That was 1946.
Now Palomar is calling its singers back.
The Palomar Choral Reunion is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the Howard Brubeck Theatre in San Marcos.
The public concert begins at 7 p.m. It will feature the Reunion Chorus, Palomar Chorale and Palomar Chamber Singers under the direction of Dr. John Russell.
Part concert.
Part homecoming.
More interesting than celebrating an 80th anniversary with sheet cake and a folding table.
The First Notes Belonged to Vista
Palomar College opened Sept. 23, 1946, on the Vista High School campus.
Exactly 100 students enrolled. Music was among the original subjects.
Eight decades later, alumni singers are being invited to perform at Palomar’s main campus in San Marcos.
The music started in Vista.
The reunion lands in San Marcos.
That gives this anniversary both feet inside our coverage map—and better harmony than most stories involving two cities.
This Is Not a Show-Up-and-Sing Situation
Palomar alumni singers who want to perform are being directed to complete an online registration form.
The participation fee is $75 per singer. Current Palomar students are exempt.
Palomar says the fee includes music scores, dinner, memorabilia and one concert ticket for a guest.
The form asks singers to identify their Palomar ensemble, voice part, years at the college and former director.
In other words, this is a reunion with sheet music.
An optional rehearsal is planned for Wednesday, Oct. 14. Registration, rehearsal, social time and dinner are scheduled before Saturday’s concert.
There is one wrinkle.
Palomar describes the schedule as proposed and subject to change. Its event page and registration form give different afternoon times, so singers should rely on direct instructions from the college.
Palomar names Joe Stanford, David Chase, Sally Dean and John Russell in its invitation.
Russell is Palomar’s director of Choral and Vocal Studies and will direct the reunion concert.
The Theater Has History, Too
The Howard Brubeck Theatre opened in 1979 as the Educational Theatre.
Palomar renamed it in the early 1990s for Howard Brubeck, the college’s former Music Department chairman and later dean of humanities.
Brubeck joined Palomar in 1953. He was a composer, educator and older brother of jazz musician Dave Brubeck.
The renovated theater reopened in 2013 and has 260 seats.
Public tickets are available online. Prices listed with estimated fees are $20.94 general, $16.78 for seniors and Palomar faculty or staff, and $12.62 for the category labeled “Student/Child (2yo thru 18).”
For alumni, Oct. 17 offers a place back in the chorus.
For the audience, it offers something harder to put behind glass:
Eighty years of local history, taking a breath together.
Questions You May Have About the Palomar Choral Reunion:
When is the Palomar Choral Reunion?
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Palomar’s music department has always been amazing. Happy to see them honoring that history.
Hope they clear up the schedule times soon. I'd hate to miss the rehearsal if I sign up.
My mom was in the Palomar Chorale in the 70s. She’ll love hearing about this!
So glad they're doing it at the Brubeck Theatre. That space sounds perfect for a big reunion sing.
$75 is kind of steep but at least it covers dinner. Cool idea for the alumni.