Founded in 1925, the Choir of the West has toured in America, Europe, and Asia. In 1964 the choir performed the world premier of Hungarian composer Miklós Rózsa's major vocal piece, "The Vanities of Life." A decade later the choir performed the west coast premier of Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki's Passion According to St. Luke. In 1987, the choir gave the first performance in the northwest of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. The choir has been chosen to perform at several American Choral Directors Association conventions, performing most recently in 2013. In 2015, the Choir of the West won the Anton Bruckner Choir grand prize in an international competition in Linz, Austria. The choir recorded a professional album in April 2018 with composer Eriks Esenvalds and recording artist Adrian Peacock which is expected to be released in fall 2018. Since its founding in 1925 the Choir of the West has had six conductors. They are Joseph Edwards (1927–1935), Gunnar Malmin (1937–1964), Maurice Skones (1964–1983), Richard Sparks (1983–2001), Kathryn Lehmann (2001–2006) and Richard Nance (2006–present).