Members of the Childrens Chorus lift their voices in song
By Sharon Haught
January 24, 2011
848
Since the hot summer days of late August, the more than 80 musicians in the Wayne Center for the Arts Childrens Chorus program have been diligently rehearsing the challenging musical repertoire that has become synonymous with the program.
On Jan. 23, at the Wooster High School Performing Arts Center, chorus members shared their gift of song with the community during the annual winter concert.
Much like the program itself, the concert began with the youngest members in the program.
Performing under the direction of Megan Routh and Laura Schantz, the Cantare Chorus presented four songs, ranging from B. Dardess Sing a Song of Nonsense, which humorously combines lines and characters from nursery rhymes and folk songs, to Brian Finleys arrangement of the classic lullaby All the Pretty Little Horses.
The next group to take the stage was the Cantabile Chorus, performing under the direction of Suzanne Feltner and Geoffrey Zimmerly. The Cantabile Chorus presented a wide range of music, from a duet from Vivaldis Gloria entitled Laudamus Te to the haunting Wind on the Hill, which sets a classic A.A. Milne poem to music.
Before the three choirs came together as a combined chorus to present the finale of the concert, the Bel Canto Chorus performed Cantar!, a festive choral piece that explores Latin American culture through an authentic salsa and samba beat, and Mi Yitneni Of, a traditional Jewish melody with intricate harmonies.
The members of the Bel Canto Chorus and special guests Jackie Komos and Claire Lewis, from the College of Wooster, reprised their roles from A Gift of Song, which the College of Wooster performed earlier this winter for sixth-grade students across the county.
The Wayne Center for the Arts Childrens Chorus program is the result of a unique partnership between the Wayne Center for the Arts and Tri-County Educational Service Center. For the past 18 years the program has offered talented vocal music students from throughout Wayne County the unique opportunity to participate in an advanced choral music training program.
According to Gary DeVault, Tri-County Educational Service Center fine arts consultant and chorus general manager, since its founding in the early 1990s the program has grown from a single chorus of 40 students to more than 80 students in three choirs with six directors, a general manager, and a substantial library of childrens choral music.
Together the three choirs offer a unique progressive vocal training program. Children in second and third grades take part in the Cantare Chorus during which they learn the important musical skills and performance procedures they will need as they progress through the program.
Students then move to the Cantabile Chorus, an apprentice chorus for students in grades four through eight. Students in this chorus add to their musical knowledge by developing their note and score reading, vocal production and ear training skills.
Select students in grades six through nine are chosen to participate in the advanced chorus in the program - the Bel Canto Chorus. There they take part in an intensive training program focused not only on technique but also on developing an aesthetic understanding and musical sensitivity to the challenging music they perform.
Chorus members rehearse weekly during the school year and perform a wide variety of music from cultures and heritages around the world during their winter and spring concerts and the other appearances the choirs make throughout the year, including the Christmas tree lighting ceremony on the square in December.
For more information on the Wayne Center for the Arts Childrens Chorus program, visit the website at http://www.wayneartscenter.org.
