Our Instructor

Mr. Sorber is the tenured Choral and Vocal Professor at College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA and was recently inducted into the “Hall Of Fame” for his contributions to El Diamante High School from 2002-2016. Throughout his career, he has conducted elementary, middle school, high school, community college, community chorus and church choirs. Mr. Sorber is the current Choral Leadership Academy Chairperson and has served in various leadership positions for California Choral Directors Association (CCDA) and CMEA. In addition to his teaching, Mr. Sorber has served as a musical theater director, choral adjudicator and clinician, honor choir manager at local and national levels, teacher mentor, tenor soloist, and private voice teacher.

As the head of the vocal and choral departments at COS, he oversees the vocal music majors, conducts the Chamber Singers and Concert Choir, and is the vocal music director for the COS musicals. The choirs perform concerts, many local events for the community, and represent COS in choral festivals in universities throughout California. The COS Chamber Singers were also recently selected to sing in Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” in Carnegie Hall in New York City. The vocal music department at COS continues to grow and remains an active force in the community of Visalia and beyond.

Mr. Sorber is also the artistic director for the Visalia Community Chorus which recently performed Brahms’s “Liebeslieder Waltzes” and has performed other major choral works and quality literature. In the spring of 2023, Mr. Sorber, and members of the VCC will join the Fresno Community Chorus for a singing tour in Prague and Budapest. Mr. Sorber has received the California Music Educators Association 2019 State Choral Educator Award, “Crystal Apple Award” for excellence in teaching (2014), the CMEA Central Section Choral Educator of the Year (2006), the TKMEA Choral Educator of the Year (2006), the El Diamante High School Teacher of the Year (2003), and the Dinuba, CA ”Excellence in Education” award (2002). He has also been privileged to conduct many honor events, locally and beyond, throughout his career.  

Mr. Sorber received his Master of Arts degree in choral conducting from Fresno State University while studying under Dr. Anna Hamre and a Bachelor of Arts from Fresno Pacific University in vocal performance and music education with Dr. Roy Klassen.  He resides in Visalia, CA with his wife Shawna and their children Abigail and Charles.