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Overview | History
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Goals
Young Singers of the Palm Beaches is Palm Beach County's
premiere community-based children's choir. We are
a multi-racial, multi-cultural arts education organization
based centrally in West Palm Beach at the Raymond
F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts. Our enrollment
for the 2009-2010 choir season is comprised of singers
in grades 3-12 from all parts of Palm Beach County's
diverse racial, ethnic, geographic, and socio-economic
communities.
Singers in our program learn all aspects
of proper choral singing and vocal technique, which
include posture, breathing, diction, vowel articulation,
music reading, and sight singing. Members also learn
interpretation; music history; rehearsal techniques;
and performance techniques, presentation and etiquette.
In addition, the children are exposed to the diversity
of many cultures thorough music and through each other;
and they learn communication, team-building and problem-solving
skills. We nurture their creativity which fosters
personal growth, self esteem, and an appreciation
of music as art; and we promote good citizenship by
teaching the importance of "giving back"to
our community and by developing civic pride when on
tour nationally and internationally.
Our repertoire is selected by our
Artistic Director, D. Shawn Berry, and his staff.
These highly-trained music educators select challenging,
skill-appropriate choral music for each choir with
a focus on diversity. We have performed music encompassing
many genres (folk, classical, sacred, spiritual/gospel,
popular, etc.), many languages (English, Spanish,
Creole, Latin, Hebrew, Japanese, French, Hawaiian,
etc.), and different cultural celebrations (most notably
Christmas and Hanukkah). Our concerts also feature
instrumentalists and incorporate choreography.
Regular, formal rehearsals with our
artistic staff (3 conductors and 2 accompanists) are
held weekly during the school year. These rehearsals
are typically scheduled for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, depending
on the choir. Additional dress and technical rehearsals
are held immediately before concerts. In addition,
separate rehearsals are held for Ensemble, and for
tours. Extended, day workshops for all choir members
are occasionally scheduled and these incorporate instructional
and social activities.
Applicants are auditioned individually
for basic vocal potential by one of our conductors.
These auditions usually take place in May, August,
and January, in the Picower Foundation Arts Education
Center at the Kravis Center. Singers are then placed
into the appropriate choir based on age, ability,
and experience. We currently have 5 choirs into which
children can be placed:
- Treble Singers
- Bel Canto Choir
- Concert Choir Men
- Cantate Choir
- Ensemble
Young Singers provides many exceptional
local, national, and international performance, educational,
and cultural opportunities for our members. In addition
to performances at prominent venues throughout Palm
Beach County such as the Kravis Center, the Harriet
Himmel Theater, the Eissey Theatre, and the Flagler
Museum, we have performed at renowned venues such
as Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Salzburg Cathedral,
and the Votivkirche in Vienna. Our singers have been
fortunate to learn from our own staff of esteemed
conductors, as well as from such notable guest conductors
as Janos Czifra, Z. Randall Stroope, Francisco Núñez,
Dr. Barbara Tagg and Dr. Sandra Snow.
Formal concerts are not the only performances
in which we participate. Our singers are also invited
to perform at local cultural, civic, and charitable
events, and in professional productions with Palm
Beach Opera and national theatrical touring companies.
Young Singers also provides our members with an opportunity
to showcase their many talents in an annual Talent
Show. Our singers produce, direct, choreograph, and
rehearse their own acts which include vocal, dance,
instrumental, and dramatic performances. The acts
are selected by the artistic staff at an audition.
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Young Singers was established by several music educators
in Palm Beach County, including Shawn Berry,
Michael Yanette and Connie Drosakis. Each of these
founders had extensive experience in music pedagogy,
and enjoyed local and national recognition for their
accomplishments. They envisioned a children's choral
organization that would not be constrained by school
boundaries, religious affiliations, racial bias, socio-economic
barriers, or funding cuts to arts education.
This dream was realized during the
summer of 2003. Our first choir season began with
79 singers, in grades 4 through 12, assigned by grade
level and ability to 2 choirs. In just 5 years, Young
Singers has grown from this grassroots concept to
a viable force in the choral community. We have performed
locally, nationally, and internationally. We are beginning
our 7th year as Palm Beach County's premiere community-based
children's choir, based at the Raymond F. Kravis Center
for the Performing Arts, with approximately 210 singers,
in grades 3 through 12, from all parts of Palm Beach
County.
In addition to our self-produced Holiday
and Spring Concerts, which are held in various venues
throughout Palm Beach County, we have also performed
locally at the Kravis Center, the Eissey Theatre,
the Flagler Museum, the Borland Center, the Harriet
Himmel Theatre, CityPlace, the Preservation Foundation
in Palm Beach, nursing homes, libraries, etc.
On tour nationally, our singers have
performed in Boston in the National Festival of the
States in June of 2005; in New York City on the stage
of Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in the National
Festival Children's Chorus in June of 2007; and The
Pacific International Chorus Festival in Eugene, Oregon
in 2009.
In 2006, Young Singers received international
recognition with an invitation to represent the state
of Florida in Jubilate Mozart, an International Youth
Choral Festival which was part of the year-long celebration
in honor of the composer's 250th birthday. Our singers
performed in concerts in Salzburg and Vienna.Young
Singers Treble Choir was invited to perform at the
Children In Harmony Choral Festival at Walt Disney
World in May 2008.
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Young Singers of the Palm Beaches believes that music
education of children is an important resource in
the development of productive participants in our
society. Through it we can transform and enrich the
lives of children and our community by:
- Breaking down social barriers - Young Singers
brings together children from all the diverse cultural,
ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds of Palm
Beach County in a positive, nurturing, and safe
environment to experience and participate together
in many different kinds of choral music, while learning
about each other.
- Developing life skills - Young Singers provides
children in grades 3 through 12 with challenging,
intensive, skill-appropriate music education and
unique performance opportunities, through which
we teach and put into action life skills such as
communication, leadership, commitment, teamwork,
loyalty, goal-setting, and the value of putting
forth your best effort.
- Providing an outlet for creativity - Young Singers
empowers children to discover, develop, and pursue
their musical and interpersonal talents as a way
to facilitate creativity, personal growth, and self
esteem while cultivating an appreciation of music
as an art form.
- Fostering good citizenship - Young Singers provides
children with opportunities to share their gifts
and talents throughout our community while teaching
the importance of "giving back," in addition
to teaching responsibility and to developing civic
pride when representing Palm Beach County on tour
nationally and internationally.
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Young Singers strives to provide the children of Palm
Beach County with the highest possible standards of
vocal and musical training. Singers in our program
learn all aspects of proper choral singing and vocal
technique, which include posture, breathing, diction,
vowel articulation, music reading, and sight singing.
Members also learn interpretation; music history;
rehearsal techniques; and performance techniques,
presentation and etiquette.
In addition, the children are
exposed to the diversity of many cultures thorough
music and through each other; and they learn communication,
team-building and problem-solving skills. We nurture
their creativity which fosters personal growth, self
esteem, and an appreciation of music as art; and we
promote good citizenship by teaching the importance
of "giving back" to our community and by
developing civic pride when on tour nationally and
internationally. We believe that education and growth
in a highly positive, disciplined, and caring environment
will nurture and refine the individual's talents,
abilities, and passion for music. As each individual
singer matures, the entire group will also benefit.
This will enable the choir to achieve the highest
possible level of performance and excellence as a
whole.
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