The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir will hold auditions for their 2009-2010 season May 14, 15 and 16 at Eastern Mennonite University for children in rising grades 3-8.
Auditions are open to all children regardless of musical experience, by appointment only. Auditions involve a short musical try-out with the director and include familiar songs, pitch matching games and round singing. No prepared song is required. A music teacher recommendation is required, and a form may be acquired from the website, www.emu.edu/svcc.
The acclaimed SVCC has sung this year for the Virginia Music Educators Association meeting at The Homestead, for the national Organization of American Kodály Educators conference in Washington, D.C., and locally at James Madison University for 2,000 area school children, in addition to their regular Christmas and spring concerts.
Now in its 17th year, the SVCC is led by Artistic Director and Founder Julia White of Harrisonburg with Joy Anderson, assistant director, Judy Leaman, choir manager, and Maurita Eberly, principal accompanist. The choir has released its 13th CD recording, “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” available through the SVCC office, the website and in area stores.
The auditioned choirs include the Preparatory Choir (ages 8-11, grades 3-5), the Treble Choir (ages 10-15, grades 5-8) and the Concert Choir (ages 11-18, grades 6-11). The Explorers, for ages 6-8, are non-auditioned classes held fall and spring for beginning choir students. Two hundred children, ages 6-17, comprise the six groups in the SVCC.
The Concert Choir will participate by invitation in the Pacific Rim Children’s Chorus Festival in Honolulu, Hawaii, July 13-23. Forty-eight SVCC students are rehearsing now for the festival that will involve 12 children’s choirs from the United States and Canada. The students’ repertoire includes songs from the Philippines, Korea, China, Japan Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, Torres Strait Islands, New Zealand and Samoa. Director Henry Leck of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir will lead the festival, with the Hawaii Youth Opera Chorus serving as host choir.
A home concert by the SVCC following the festival for the Valley community will be held 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14 at EMU’s Lehman Auditorium.
For more information about auditions and to schedule an appointment, contact Judy Leaman at 540.432.4650 or [email protected] or visit the web site at www.emu.edu/svcc.
– Story by Jim Bishop
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