Our Vision: A world that explores the human
experience through musical storytelling

Upcoming Performances

Join Peninsula Cantare for an emotional and moving season finale! The centerpiece work will be Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard Suite, with video projections and chamber orchestra. This uplifting piece offers listeners a compassionate and evocative musical journey through Matt’s story. The first half of the concert includes Caroline Shaw’s award-winning modern masterpiece, To the Hands. Together, these two works alongside favorites like “Over the Rainbow” will leave our audiences feeling both hopeful and joyous. You won’t want to miss this concert!

  • 16 May 2026

  • 7:30 PM

  • First Congregational Church: 1985 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Join Peninsula Cantare for an emotional and moving season finale! The centerpiece work will be Craig Hella Johnson’s Considering Matthew Shepard, with video projections, staging, and chamber orchestra. This uplifting piece offers listeners a compassionate and evocative musical journey through Matt’s story. The chorus and soloists will draw you into a musical world of immense beauty, helping to share the light and love this “ordinary boy” brought to all he met. You won’t want to miss this concert!

Support the
Community

Peninsula Cantare relies on support from individuals, businesses, and community partners to achieve our mission — to forge connections between diverse communities in the pursuit of choral artistry.

Your investment, no matter how large or small, will help Peninsula Cantare continue to make a profound difference in our community, while ensuring that the choral arts continue to thrive in Silicon Valley and around the globe.

About the Choir

Peninsula Cantare is a community chorus based in Palo Alto, California under the direction of Jeffrey Benson. The choir is dedicated to inspiring audiences by exploring the human experience through musical storytelling. As an organization, Peninsula Cantare is deeply committed to performing great choral masterpieces for chorus and orchestra and to exploring new music by historically underrepresented composers.

Meet the Director

Dr. Jeffrey Benson is Artistic Director of Peninsula Cantare and Director of Choral Activities at San José State University. The Washington Post hails his choirs for singing “with an exquisite blend, subtlety of phrasing, confident musicianship and fully supported tone.”

Watch our recent performances on YouTube

Ha Rese Re Bina by Mbuso Ndluvo

Seeking Light by Brandon Williams

Bright Morning Stars, arr. Shawn Kirchner