Greetings,
Tacoma Youth Chorus begins our 32nd season with feelings of joy, excitement, and gratitude as we embark on our first full season since the fall of 2019! The energy is palpable as the smiling faces of our young singers welcome a record number of new families to the organization and as our five choirs are rounded out by the reintroduction of our Music Makers preparatory classes in 3 groups each week on 2 campuses (Charles Wright Academy and Annie Wright Schools). Our students, directors, accompanists, and staff are busy preparing for a year filled with exciting concerts, collaborations with guest artists, family sharing events, retreats, and guest clinician visits.
What does it look like to prepare for such a full season? Here’s a snapshot of brief moments taken from one recent week of TYC classes and rehearsals.
Monday
Music Makers Group 1 at Annie Wright Schools (grades K-1), Katie Brizuela, Instructor: Our youngest musicians use their listening skills, focus, and eye-hand coordination to play percussion instruments while accompanying a story. Extra smiles greet movement activities with scarves.
Tuesday
Chamber Choir (grades 4-8), Judy Herrington, Director: Preparing for a demonstration with Dr. Rollo Dilworth at our Music Educators Workshop, Chamber Choir singers work artistic details of Dilworth’s compositions ‘Dream Keeper’ and ‘Sunset.’ Singers are engaged in conferring with their neighbor to review areas that they want to highlight for additional focus.
Tenor/Bass Choir (grades 9-12), Alonso Brizuela, Director: Singers are focusing on unified rhythmic details for solidifying the ensemble sound. Attention is given to vocal development, especially for newly changed voices.
Treble Choir (grades 9-12), Judy Herrington, Director: Movement is a key component of the rehearsal, reinforcing vocal and rhythmic concepts and using the entire group to demonstrate the volume changes by moving the singers’ circle together or farther apart.
Chorale (Tenor/Bass and Treble Choirs combined, grades 9-12), Judy Herrington, Director: In preparing for a guest clinician visit with Dr. Dilworth, singers rehearse his composition ‘Celebrate the Newborn King.’ This TYC favorite utilizes a call-and-response component – spacing across the room from each other emphasizes the effect and helps singers deepen their understanding of the composer’s intent.
Wednesday
Concert Choir (grades 2-4), Katie Brizuela, Director: Preparing for a performance with Symphony Tacoma (Holiday Favorites), singers reinforce memorization of John Rutter’s ‘Magical Kingdom’ by greeting three people and speaking the words together. The added smiles are a joyful product of the fun and welcoming atmosphere of our rehearsals.
Thursday
Music Makers Groups 2 and 3 (grades K-1), Katie Brizuela, Instructor: Excited students sit on their assigned dots to accompany a story with their percussion instruments and then coordinate their movements around the room to musical cues.
But TYC has always been about more than presenting quality performances and providing strong choral and musical education. Our mission of transforming the lives of youth through choral artistry and the ensemble experience is fundamental to what we do. A crucial step in that transformative process is providing a place where a child can say “I am known, I am seen, I am valued, my contributions are appreciated, and I am committed to the team.” This is borne out through small details, such as placing name tags on chairs or dots to show that each student has a spot reserved for them at each session, to bigger interactions, such as the emphasis on peer-to-peer conversations for input and feedback and ensuring that singers are confident that TYC directors know their names and approach every interaction from a place of respect.
It takes more than hard work and dedication to provide these experiences for our children. We invite you to help us make these opportunities possible through a financial contribution. No matter the amount, every donation helps support the education of our singers by helping us provide need-based scholarships, materials for classes and rehearsals, highly-skilled and caring instructors, inspirational collaborations with guest artists and clinicians, a small but passionate administrative and artistic support staff dedicated to the success of our singers, and exceptional venues for rehearsing and sharing our performances with our families and the greater community.
Making a meaningful financial contribution has never been easier! You can safely donate using the button below where you can choose to make a one-time donation or a recurring donation. Even $5 a month becomes $60 in a year.
We thank you for your generosity and partnership in helping to make a difference in the lives of our children. We hope you will join us at an upcoming concert to experience first-hand the magic of these talented and inspiring young people.With gratitude,
Donations received by December 1 will appear in the concert program.