Ken Abrams was the beloved choral director at San Ramon Valley High School for 36 years.  And since 1992 he has also been the artistic director of the Danville Girls Chorus - a community children’s choir with over 150 singers in five separate levels with a staff of nine professionals.  He is a graduate of California State University, Hayward, where he majored in vocal performance and graduated cum laude.  He received his Master’s Degree in choral conducting from the University of Illinois in 1990 and graduated magna cum laude.  The SRVHS choirs were noted for their commitment to excellence and for their outstanding ranking at competitions and festivals as well as 16 first place awards at the prestigious Northern California Golden State Choral Competition.  

 

Mr. Abrams was selected as "Teacher of The Year" for the San Ramon Valley Unified School District in 1996, at San Ramon Valley High School in 2002 and by the Danville Chamber of Commerce in 2006.  He was also awarded Volunteer of the Year for the town of Danville in 2007.  Touring was an important component of the curriculum at SRVHS and his choirs made two domestic trips annually as well as eight international tours -- Central Europe, the British Isles, Australia/New Zealand, Spain, the Baltics with Russia, Costa Rica, Argentina/Uruguay and Italy/Slovenia/Croatia.  The latter trip featured performances at the Vatican and at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice.  In addition, he undertook “Rebuild and Renew” tours to NYC in 2002 after the 9/11 tragedies, New Orleans in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina, and Houston in 2018 after Hurricane Harvey.  

 

Ken is the past-president of the California chapter of the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA), and he also served as the High School Representative for the ACDA Western Division Region (California, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah and Arizona).  Lastly, Ken’s groups were featured at two prominent ACDA Western Division Conferences - Los Angeles in 2008 and Tucson in 2010.  He is eager and excited about his partnership with the Blackhawk Chorus and is grateful to founding director, Diane Gilfether, for her wonderful leadership and vision over the past thirty years.  Ken looks forward to “continuing the traditions” so well established with this family of singers.