For the 185-member Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra, the release of "Eternal Light," is a milestone.

It not only marks the 12-year-old organization's entry into the online commercial retail sale of recordings, it's a celebration of the SCSO's first tour with its own orchestra. That's no small matter, since few U.S. choral groups operate their own orchestras.

The recording was made during the SCSO's June tour performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. That date saw the chorus and orchestra perform Mozart's "Requiem" and Morten Lauridsen's five-movement "Lux Aeterna."

It was one of the SCSO's best performances to date and showed how the organization took to the stellar acoustics at Disney Hall. Sonically, that performance was a stark contrast to the SCSO's past performances at the Community Center Theater.

The "Requiem" features strong solo performances by soprano Sandra Rubalcava and mezzo soprano Oksana Sitnitska. The CD also captures tenor Robert MacNeil's vivid performance, which proved a highlight of the "Requiem."

"Eternal Light," which the SCSO has self released, can be purchased at www.sacramentochoral.com. It is priced at $15.

"Releasing the new CD helps us move closer toward our goal of prominence and permanence in the world beyond Sacramento," said Donald Kendrick, artistic director of the SCSO.

Kendrick is keen on expanding the group's visibility in Northern California. The SCSO's move from the Community Center Theater to the Mondavi Center at the University of California, Davis, is not only a cost-saving measure for the organization, it is also an effort to pull a fan base from Dixon and Vacaville.

"The CD is one of the most effective marketing and development tools a nonprofit arts group can hope for."

The "Eternal Light" CD is not the first recording the SCSO has released. In October 2004, it produced "European Horizons" after a European tour to Munich, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. That CD was made with Radio Hungary and recorded live in the Liszt Academy with the Budapest Concert Orchestra.

But that predated a historic agreement between the American Federation of Musicians and large orchestras last year. And it also predates the SCSO's collective- bargaining agreement with 55 members of AFM Local 12, which established its own orchestra.

The national agreement profoundly changed the orchestral- recording landscape in classical music. Its major impact is being felt by smaller and regional orchestras. The new agreement replaces an outdated and costly recording payment structure that made recording sense only for orchestras with multimillion-dollar budgets.

Under the three-year collective bargaining agreement, the orchestra is allowed to create and sell commercial recordings; it stipulates how and when musicians will be paid for them. The agreement also allows for the now-crucial option of placing recordings online for downloading and Web streaming.

"The 'Eternal Light' CD is the first of our recordings to have a life as a product online," said Lee Blachowicz, vice president of the SCSO and a baritone in the chorus.

As a result, the SCSO has the opportunity to stream its performances on radio stations KXPR (90.9 FM) and KXJZ (88.9 FM), he said. However, the details of any such streaming have yet to be worked out.

A total of 2,000 CDs were pressed of the Disney Hall performance. Blachowicz said the CD will eventually be listed with the online retailer Amazon.com. And it is the SCSO's intention to work out an arrangement with iTunes to allow downloads of the recording, Blachowicz said.

The right to record at Disney Hall and the hiring of an engineer cost the organization $7,200. The pressing and packaging of the CD cost another $2,000.

The cost of the CD effort is expected to be partly covered by funds derived from the 185 members of the chorus, said Blachowicz. Unlike orchestras, choruses frequently tap choristers for funds. In the SCSO's case, the chorus members normally end up contributing the equivalent of $500 yearly to help fund SCSO activities, said Blachowicz.

"Our singers would do anything for us," he said. "Many of them ordered their CDs with advance payment, and that really helped us with our cash flow."

The performance at Disney Hall, where the Los Angeles Philharmonic performs, was initiated by the SCSO, which rented the hall for $20,000 for the June performance.

Blachowicz believes the recording will give the SCSO the benefit of another revenue stream.

"Only about half of our costs are covered by tickets sales to concerts," he said. "We're hopeful that, with the recording, we can generate enough revenue to allow for more marketing initiatives and also use it as a public relations tool."

"We're indeed hoping to release a 'Home for the Holidays' CD in the fall of 2009," said Kendrick. To that end, the SCSO had a recording engineer record both of its recent "Home for the Holidays" performances at the Mondavi.

And it is also looking into the past for future releases with plans to release a "Carmina Burana" CD within the next two years.

Call arts critic Edward Ortiz at (916) 321-1071.