Children’s Festival Chorus Music Preview: rehearsal for 25th anniversary concert
Children’s Festival Chorus Music Preview, with rehearsal for 25th anniversary concert
Lisa Jaworowski directs members of the Children’s Festival Chorus during a rehearsal for its 25th anniversary concert.The only time that it may be OK to be 25 and still act like a child is on display this week at the Byham Theater. The Children’s Festival Chorus is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a gala concert, a new commission and a continuing record of inspiring young people to achieve heights.
“Children are capable of performing at a high level if they are taught to think of themselves as young artists,” says Christine Jordanoff, the organization’s artistic director since 1986. “We have sung in 27 dialects — from Swahili to Cantonese to Ukrainian to Portuguese. The kids are really getting an education, not just one musical diet.”
More than 1,000 singers from ages 8 to 15 have participated in the ensemble since its founding in 1983, and about 50 alumni — including a few members of the first choir — will join the Chorus to sing at various times in the concert.
Children’s Festival Chorus
Where: Byham Theater, Downtown.
When: 3 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets: $18-$20; 412-456-6666
Carnegie International artist profiles
A look at the challenges in the blues challenge
CBS profits rise 14 percent in 1st quarter
Defending the blues challenge
Neil Diamond at Arena on Aug. 18
The Children’s Festival Chorus is not simply an all-star choir, it is an important complement to the larger local arts groups, whose programming occasionally requires children’s voices. “The kids have sung with amazing artists in the Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh Opera, Manchester Craftsmen’s [Guild] and more,” says Jordanoff.
Those opportunities still are thrilling to the children in the group, but they are not quite the draw they used to be — a reflection, Jordanoff says, of “cultural challenges” brought on by other forms of entertainment that children find alluring. “There were times our competition was other choirs; now, it is other mediums, like ‘American Idol.’ A lot of kids want to be in musical theater, and they think that being in a chorus means you have to give up some individuality.”
What Jordanoff and her crew can promise is that children who join the Chorus will get “a solid grounding in music of all styles, and a discriminating taste.” That was enough of a lure this year to attract 140 children from 90 different schools, with their parents willing to pay $600 a year in memberships if they pass their audition. Jordanoff says she and her assistants, Elaine Goldsmith and Lisa Jaworowski, find the talent so high they need to rehearse just once a week to perform complex works.
“This is an incredibly talented group that is obviously working very hard to ensure that they do this work justice,” Pittsburgh composer Jeffrey Nytch says of his five-movement work “Pittsburgh Portraits.” He has set the lyrics written by five current and former Chorus members: Gabrielle Bakewell, 11; Melissa Cagan, 11; Maggie Scanlon, 10; Rebecca Silverstein, 13; and Torey Gricks, 14. Each of their contributions celebrates different aspects of the city, such as its immigrant populations and industrial past.
“They have been extremely willing to discuss changes … and have brought enormous enthusiasm to the project,” says Nytch, former managing director of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble.
“This is the longest and most significant commission we have done,” highlighted by the use of lyrics written by members of the Chorus, says Jordanoff. “It has been an amazing experience.”
Jordanoff and Chorus executive director Sharon Wolf are hopeful there will be more such experiences in the future. They note their organization has no deficit, “breaks even each year,” gets substantial support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, Heinz Endowments and the Campbell Foundation, and has an endowment of approximately $500,000.
“We have a hard-working board,” says Jordanoff. “I always had faith it would make it to 25. I knew I was passionate about it and would make it happen. I feel like it is in a very good place.”
The concert at 3 p.m. Sunday will also feature songs by Stephen Foster, John Rutter, Gerald Finzi, Hoagy Carmichael and more.
Children’s Festival Chorus Music Preview: rehearsal for 25th anniversary concert. Editing by Alice Liu
[...] lyricsringtonesz wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptHe has set the lyrics written by five current and former Chorus members: Gabrielle Bakewell, 11; Melissa Cagan, 11; Maggie Scanlon, 10; Rebecca Silverstein, 13; and Torey Gricks, 14. Each of their contributions celebrates different … [...]
[...] stuff box wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThe Children’s Festival Chorus is not simply an all-star choir, it is an important complement to the larger local arts groups, whose programming occasionally requires children’s voices. “The kids have sung with amazing artists in the … [...]
[...] scottjason wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptThey note their organization has no deficit, “breaks even each year,” gets substantial support from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, Heinz Endowments and the Campbell Foundation, and has an endowment of approximately $500000. … [...]
tila tequila nude
ur blog rox my sox off!!