The Pierce College Choir, under the direction of Dr. Garineh “Gaga” Avakian, is open to any student who seeks to enrich their life with choral singing, music and love for the arts. It is a part of top-ranked Los Angeles Pierce College, which provides excellent opportunities for transfer education, career training, and life-long learning to our community.
Founded in 1947, Los Angeles Pierce College is located in Woodland Hills, California, and is one of the nine colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District – the largest community college district in the nation.
The Choir performs two concerts a year, and has participated in choral festivals such as the Invitational Community College Choir Festival at the University of Southern California, Thornton School of Music. The Choir has also collaborated and performed with many of the local San Fernando High Schools near the Pierce College campus in order to engage and inspire students in choral music.
Music performed by the Choir ranges from classical and musical theater to jazz and medleys. Encore, a non-credit, older adult program at Pierce, also has a choir called The Encore Singers. Members of the Encore Singers are welcomed to sing and perform with the Pierce College Choir. Collaborations with various other ensembles such as the Pierce Symphonic Band and Studio Jazz Band are organized by the faculty regularly.
Pierce is committed to providing caring, equitable services to help diverse students as well as the local community achieve their goals and thrive in a rapidly changing world. It is a college where every person is respected, supported and empowered with empathy. The values of Pierce College are racial equity and social justice, quality, constant growth, student centered practices, engagement and advocacy, collaboration, friendliness, enrichment of community, and, most of all, passion.
The “One Book, One Campus” program at Pierce College is designed to foster student engagement by creating an interdisciplinary and integrated intellectual experience. In 2016-2017 the Pierce College Choir and Symphonic Band commissioned a musical piece based on the life of Malala Yousafzai, the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, portraying her life and journey into a theatrical and musical performance.
Recently, the Pierce College Choir was awarded a special recognition certificate from Councilmember of Woodland Hills, Bob Blumenfield for its commitment to the arts and dedication of bringing community together to enjoy the work of musicians. In 2022 the Pierce College Choir also participated in a choir festival organized by Music Celebrations International in Rome; Italy directed by Dr. Randall Stroope. The choir had the opportunity to sing at the Vatican, St. Peter’s Basilica and also at St. Ignatius in Rome. Pierce College Choir has also had the honor to part take in the National Memorial Day Choral Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. June of 2026 The Pierce College Choir will be traveling to Spain, (Valencia, Madrid and Barcelona) to sing in the Global Ambassador Choir Festival with Music Celebrations International.