The Choir of the West is the premier choral ensemble at Pacific Lutheran University, located in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 1926, the choir was the third Lutheran college choir to tour extensively throughout the United States. Choir of the West has toured Europe, Scandinavia, Japan and China, and has performed at several state, division and national conferences of the National Association for Music Education and the American Choral Directors Association. In 2018 the choir performed at the Northwestern Division ACDA conference, and gave a highly acclaimed performance at the 2013 ACDA National Conference held in Dallas. Choir of the West performed a featured concert at the 2015 National Collegiate Choral Organization Conference under the direction of headliner Simon Carrington. The choir won two gold awards at the 2011 Harmonie Festival in Lindenholzhausen, Germany, and won two categories at the 2015 Anton Bruckner Competition in Linz, Austria. The choir was awarded the Anton Bruckner Prize as the most outstanding ensemble in the competition.

Choir of the West regularly participates in premieres of important new works, including the chamber version of JAC Redford’s Homing, the North American premiere of Ēriks Ešenvalds’ Nordic Light Symphony (2017) and Sven-David Sandström’s Matthauspassion (2016).

The Choir of the West is comprised of undergraduate students from a variety of academic disciplines. The choir performs several concerts each year, including shared programs with other PLU ensembles, an annual series of five Christmas Concerts (filmed for broadcast on PBS in 2015), and campus celebratory events. The choir tours domestically in three out of four years, and once every four years tours internationally.