What We're Up To: Paying Tribute the Best Way We Can

Editor's Note: Today we are sharing two blog posts about our singers' experience at the Massachusetts Remembers 9-11 Commemoration. BCC was a featured performer at the event. More information can be found on our website.

By Isabel Koyama, Premier Choir
Isabel has been in BCC for 9 years. She is sixteen years old.

Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and appropriately, BCC was there as a musical voice of Boston to bring hope to a confused yet reflective city. It was a hot day, and we wore our black uniforms, which didn't make the heat any easier. But just as we did in Jordan three years ago, we tolerated the heat like true professionals! Although we were shaded by the arched Hatch Shell, I sat near the end of my row, right where the sun decided to shine only on my seat. But even through the baking penetration of the sun, I could not have been more glad to sit through the event from the stage. From my seat I watched the Pops play patriotic songs, and Deval Patrick offer reflection. I watched people of all different religions unite in one prayer. I watched a black female vocalist sing from her soul. I heard the family members of victims tell inspiring stories of how they have overcome the unconscionable death of their loved ones ten years ago.

BCC singers perform with the Boston Pops Brass Ensemble at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade

In preparing for our first concert, we practiced songs such as "Let There Be Peace on Earth" and "This is my Song." My first impression of these songs bordered on disgust -- they were so predictably corny. Everything about them was sappy and cliche. But after hearing the speakers I looked at the lyrics to "This is my Song" with a new outlook:

"My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too, and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine"

I considered these words as I sang them, how they can bring hope to victims' families in a time when they are brought back to hopelessness; how much it must mean to them that I am singing this song. I thought about the beautiful idea of equity behind this verse - We spend so much time trying to protect what is labeled ours, but in actuality we all live under the same sky. Anyone should be able to look up and see a beautiful, refreshing blue sky above them. Yet war and violence can, metaphorically and literally, turn a blue sky gray.

As I pondered these lyrics I began to sing not for myself, but for them. And by "them" I mean the victims, the victims' families, or any person in the world who is victimized. I felt myself beginning to tear up from the lyrics that I had scoffed at the day before.

In my 9 years of participating in BCC, I have heard our mission statement hundreds of times. It is important to me to interpret it and try to make meaning from it. On Sunday, I felt that our mission, for me, was accomplished. It was accomplished by using music to bring hope to the city of Boston when it needed it most. Through song we exemplified compassion, understanding, unity, and humility; and even if this message of understanding was only internalized by one audience member it was still worth it. BCC was a shoulder for Bostonians to lean on; and if that isn't social change, I don't know what is.


By Allana Matthews, Premier Choir
Allana has been in BCC for nine years. She is seventeen years old.

On Sunday, we had the wonderful opportunity to sing with the Boston Pops for the ten-year anniversary of the tragic event that shook our nation on September 11, 2001. Premier Choir and Young Men’s Ensemble lifted their voices in song, singing patriotic songs as well as songs of hope. Although 9-11 is not a happy day, our music sang to the souls of the fallen, and spoke hope and encouragement for the future to their families.

To be part of such an amazing event was very rewarding. It was an opportunity to reflect on the mission of the Boston Children’s Chorus - we harness the power of music as a catalyst for social change, and that is exactly what we did on the stage at the Esplanade. Ten years ago, there was a terrorist attack against our nation that screamed hate. It was in this time that our nation joined together to promote peace, and spread a beacon of courage, hope and strength for the future. It didn’t matter what the race, the religion, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background or economic status- we ALL needed one another in that sad time.

On that stage, that is what we stood for. Singing for peace and love, and using music to spread the message of a world without hate.

“Imagine all the people, living life in peace” – John Lennon

What We're Up To: Building a Mentorship Program

One of the things that we see an opportunity to improve at BCC is the mentoring aspect of our youth development program. We hope that our readers know that we do A LOT more than sing here at BCC – if you need a reminder of what our mission is exactly, check it out on our website.

Edward Clapp

Over the summer, we are going to be working with Harvard Doctoral candidate Edward Clapp to launch an Omni-Directional Mentorship program (more on what that means later). It will be active starting at the beginning of next season. Over the past few months, Clapp has held one-on-one conversations with singers, parents, staff, and board members about how we relate to one another at BCC and how we can improve our interactions. He presented his initial findings this week in a discussion-oriented session at BCC Central, open to the same broad range of people.

He pointed out that when we typically think about mentorship, we imagine a top-down relationship (i.e. from a more experienced person to a less-experienced person). Omni-directional membership is different because it considers other directions, like bottom-up and lateral (i.e. peer) relationships. An organization that effectively uses omni-directional membership creates a web of learning, where “all leaders are learners, and all learners are leaders.”

Clapp presents his thoughts on the
points of "resonance"
and "dissonance" at BCC

In developing this program with BCC, Clapp is using a very appropriate metaphor – the voice! He asked attendees to think about how they “hear voice” and “have voice” within the organization, as well as the areas in which the very broad BCC community has “resonance” (i.e. agreement) and “dissonance” (i.e. disagreement). The greater the resonance within the organization, the more likely we are to have “harmony,” which Clapp defined as a powerful expression of the mission, vision, and/or purpose of the organization.

Singers, parents, staff
and board offered ideas.

The group in attendance talked about a lot of ways that we could foster relationships within and across stakeholder groups. Singers expressed a strong interest in getting to know the board, newer parents wanted an opportunity to interact with older parents, parents were interested in experiencing what singers are learning in rehearsal.

However the program takes shape this fall, all of us can count on being asked to be involved, including our audience, funders, and alumni! Clapp is intent on enhancing our community through knowledge sharing and “curiosity about the other.” We hope you’ll come along with us on this journey, because our community has something to learn from your voice!

Why not start Getting Vocal now? Leave a comment about your role in BCC’s community, the ways you would like to see it grow or change, and your suggestions about how we should get there! If you are reading this post on our website, please visit the blog at bostonchildrenschorus.blogspot.com to make your comment. Thanks!

What We’re Up To: Building a Community of Boston Music Educators

Last year, BCC was awarded a grant by EdVestors, an organization that drives change in urban schools through strategic private investment. The grant was part of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Arts Expansion Fund, a three-year $2.5 million effort whose mission is to empower BPS schools to embrace and expand arts instruction in schools.

Each month, five BPS music teachers met with BCC’s Artistic Director Anthony Trecek-King and Assistant Artistic Director Michele Adams to discuss a wide range of topics related to their work. The final meeting was held recently at BCC Central, where each teacher presented a project they’d been working on throughout their time in the Study Group. Project topics included curriculum development, integration of solfege for young singers, and the effect of music training on language fluency. 

The teachers were (from left to right in the photo): Kelly DiGrazia - Orchard Gardens, Sharon Hamel - F. D. Roosevelt, Sonya White Hope - Winthrop Elementary, PK Egersheim - Condon Elementary, Tamiko Everson - Murphy Elementary. Cleo Knight-Wilkins, BPS Senior Program Director for the Arts, was also in attendance for the final presentation.

While tempting to call the presentations a capstone, the teachers had many other important experiences together this year. Artistic Director Anthony Trecek-King remarked that, “From the first session, it was obvious to Michelle and I that this group needed this time to build community together, and we adjusted accordingly.”

The outcome was clear: these educators had developed a profound connection to one another, based on a rare opportunity to intensively discuss their work with peers. Lest we assume that music teachers have lots of opportunity to connect, in the teacher’s lounge or in their classrooms, the Study Group highlighted the following:

• Nearly all schools have a single music teacher, and many are not even dedicated to a single school
• Many teach during nearly every period, with few “inactive” minutes during the school day
• Many do not have their own classrooms

In light of these facts, it’s easy to understand why this Study Group relished their discussions as they did. BCC considers it part of its mission to build community in this way, and hopes to expand this initiative next year and for years to come.

What We're Up To: Concert Choir Tour to Worcester and Shrewsbury

By: Maddie Mechem, Concert Choir

Maddie has been in BCC for 4 years. She is 15 years old.

The first weekend of April, Concert Choir went on a three-concert excursion to Worchester and Shrewsbury, just about two hours outside Boston. Our first performance was with the Worcester Children’s Chorus and the Young People’s Chorus. These choirs are really good, and were really similar to BCC, especially in the professional, engaging way they performed. It looked like they were having fun but taking it seriously, and that is what we try to do.

Concert Choir Performs at Wesley United Methodist Church

Our first concert was in the Wesley United Methodist Church, at a benefit concert for CASA. CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) is an organization that provides abused or neglected children with volunteers who support them through the legal and social services systems. As part of participating in this concert, we were asked to donate books to CASA, which we did. The money raised from the concert was given to CASA, to help them continue their efforts to help children. All three of the choirs performed several songs by themselves, and all three came together to perform Sahayta (“helpfulness” in Sanskrit), which uses words from about 14 languages to express peace, and We Will, which carries a message of hope. These two were the finale pieces, and after these, we went to meet up with our home-stay families.

A home-stay involves two or more singers being put together in someone’s house to spend the night, with the idea being that they learn more about other people in the choir and in the communities we visit. For this home-stay, I was paired up with three other girls - Laura, Ify, and Madison, and we stayed with the LaBelle family. We all enjoyed talking to their daughter, Blair, and they were extremely nice to us.

After spending the night with our home-stays, we regrouped at First Congregational Church of Shrewsbury, for a concert with their Youth Singers, during Sunday morning services. We sang four hymns, as well as Al Shlosha, a Hebrew text; This Is The Day, which is a gospel piece; and a chorale from Bach’s Cantata 1.

Concert Choir singers prepare for Sunday morning service
at First Congregational Church of Shrewsbury

Spencer with a spear at Higgins Armory Museum

After the service, we made the most of our free time before our concert later in the day, and went to the Higgins Armory Museum. This museum has pieces of armor from around the world, and from across the centuries, as well. Most of the choir went to an arms and armor demonstration, where volunteers could hold pieces of chain mail and weaponry. One Concert Choir member, Isaac, got to hold a piece of chain mail in his hand while the guide ran a hand-and-a-half sword over it (Isaac was totally fine, as the chain mail protected his hand). Another singer, Spencer, got to hold a spear, which was at least three feet taller than he is.

Author, Maddie Mechem, at the Armory Museum

After about two hours of touring the museum, we left for our final concert of the tour, also at First Congregational. We performed by ourselves, and sang most of the songs we’d been rehearsing over the past few weeks, including Oseh Shalom, Sahayta, This Is The Day, and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round. We also performed Pata Pa’ca, a song from Venezuela which was meant for a college level choir. The audience seemed impressed by that fact, and the fact that we did really well on it. After this last concert, we said goodbye to those who were leaving with their families, and packed up for the trip back to Boston. I think that, all in all, the tour let everyone in the choir come together and meet people they didn’t know all that well, and it is definitely an experience worth repeating.

BCC joins the Boston Arts Academy!

Guest Writer: Grace Thompson

On Thursday April 17th and Friday April 18th, the BCC's Premier Choir had the delight of performing with the best of the Boston Arts Academy at their spring concerts. I found the experience to be quite enjoyable! Premier, myself included, was reunited with many of the dancers who joined us in our annual MLK Holiday concert to dance the Dravidian Dithyramb. Once again, Dravidian Dithyramb was performed with BCC on vocals and the dancers gracing the stage with their expressive movements. We then had the chance to perform two new songs with BAA, Nick Page's Niska Banja, a flirty Serbian Gypsy dance with soloists Casey Accardi and Georgia Halliday, as well as Stephen Hatfield's fabulously zany work, Uberlebensgross, both of which incorporated dance, song, and percussion. Both of these pieces were a bounty of fun to sing. In Niska Banja we had the privilege of watching the amazing dancers flit across the stage, but of course we also remained focused on delivering the Serbian language to the best of our abilities. For our finale we gave every last bit of energy to Uberlebensgross, a piece in which some of BCC's very own singers get the oppurtunity to incorporate bamboo sticks, drums of all sorts, rainsticks, bells, chimes, and even body percussion. The event took place at the Back Bay Events Center, which had fantastic acoustics and was a splendid performance space overall. It had a spacious stage with the perfect amount of room for both our chorus and the dancers, which is very important! What really caught my attention while performing were the great lighting effects. The fabulous people at BAA managed to create a spectacle of colors, which came as quite a surprise to the BCC singers, as we did not rehearse with lighting and thus saw it for the first time during performance! I am sure it made our part of the concert look quite impressive from the audience's perspective. It was really a fun time, and since this went so well, we are bound to have more performances with BAA in the future.

Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Boston Conservatory Orchestra

Guest Writer: Georgia Halliday

Normally, when we perform, the basic idea is pretty simple: We put on our uniforms, get up on stage, do what we’ve been practicing in rehearsal, try to remember that crescendo in measure 35, and hopefully at the end everybody claps.

Throw a hundred other musicians into the process, and things get more complicated.

This is the challenge we were faced with when we performed Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Boston Conservatory Orchestra and Women’s Chorus. Let me first say that if you haven’t listened obsessively to Mahler’s symphonies for at least several weeks, then you have missed out enormously: they are beautiful. The Third is less frequently performed than the others because it requires a very large orchestra and a long attention span (the full symphony lasts over an hour and a half), so this was a rare opportunity for us.

One of the biggest challenges we had to overcome was that of volume. The BCC was singing the part of the Knabenchor, or Bell Choir, in the fifth movement. Being a bell choir meant we spent a considerable amount of time singing “Bimm, bamm, bimm, bamm,” which is mostly humming. Try humming over an orchestra. It’s pretty hard.

With a little maneuvering, we managed to solve that problem by assigning some members of both the BCC and the Women’s Chorus to sing more vowel and less hum (“Shh, don’t tell,” whispered the conductor of the Women’s Chorus).

Working with the orchestra was also unusual for us because we had a different conductor, the Boston Conservatory conductor Bruce Hangen. Not only did he have a whole orchestra to concentrate us, he was far below on the stage while we sang from the mezzanine, which forced us to be more independent and concentrate on our own entrances and cutoffs.

While rehearsing the piece on our own, we spent a while going over how to find each note for each entrance by looking at the parts of the other choir, the soloist, or the orchestra. When we arrived at the first rehearsal with orchestra, everyone was impressed when we told them, “Sure, we can find our note from that last A in the fourth movement. We just go down a major third and then jump three octaves.”

Sanders Theatre at Harvard is a beautiful building to perform in: the tall hall makes for great acoustics and my friend Cyrus spent several minutes waxing poetic about the architecture. It is always a wonderful experience to be a part of an ensemble that big, feeling the power of the music filling the room. You could close your eyes and imagine that there really were angels singing.

Joint Concert and Hosting Experience with Carmina from the Czech Republic!

Guest Writer: Nina Goodman, Premier Choir

With this being my second year in BCC, I am still surprised by all the great things that we are able to do. When my mother and I arrived at the airport to pick up the six Czech choristers from the Czech choir, I had assumed that it would be like when the choir from Chicago had stayed with my family the past year. But, to my astonishment, it was an entirely different cultural experience. While at the airport every one was trying to imagine what the visiting singers would be like… would they be as excited about meeting us as we were to meet them? The answer to that was yes.

With rehearsals every day and all sorts of other tourist-y experiences planned for the Czechs, they got just enough sleep to get through to the next activity. We managed to have a great deal of fun and perform wonderfully under the hectic circumstances. It seemed that the best time that we were able to have together was at the potluck dinner the Mia Ferguson and Sherylynn Sealy (Premier Choir Vice President and President) put together. With music, food and a small craft to break the ice, we all got along great. As we made traditional paper hand turkeys, Sherylynn shared some information about thanksgiving and although the language was somewhat difficult, we got to share an aspect of our culture with the visitors.

During the second to last night of the Czechs visit, they showered us with gifts from their homeland, which included embroidery, chocolates, chocolates, and more chocolates. We gave them Boston red sox jackets so that they could say that they were official Bostonians.

The next night was the concert that was filled with all sorts of fun suprises. Carmina wowed us with their expressiveness and enthusiasm on stage, however the highlight was when the whipped off their regular performance outfits and performed some classic Czech folk songs in traditional Czech clothing. The song that I believe we had the most compliments on was “Freedom Trilogy”. All in all I think that it was a great concert and a fabulous experience through out the whole thing.

Performance at Tufts University!

Guest Writer: Casey Accardi

As soon as I took a first look at the piece, “O Daedalus, Fly Away Home” composed by Trevor Weston, I knew that we were in for a real treat. The Premier Choir of BCC was invited to sing the children’s chorus part of this masterpiece, along with the Tufts University Chamber Choir singing the adult parts, conducted by Andrew Clark. We began rehearsals at once, improving each time we ran a section. The energy within the choir built as we realized just how thrilling of a piece “O Daedalus” was. As the few short weeks passed, it became time for us to finally rehearse with the Tufts Chamber Singers, (who are truly magnificent!) and get the piece up and running. “O Daedalus” tells the story of slaves trying to escape back to Africa by using a beautiful poem written by Robert Hayden. Trevor Weston explained to us the story behind the song and inspired us to perform to a different level as we became aware of what we were singing about.

The day of the performance, there was a flurry of energy within the choir as we prepared to take the stage. We would be performing at the Granoff Music Center at the Tufts University campus. The moment we entered the space, it was clear that it was no ordinary concert hall. It managed to incorporate tremendous acoustics as well a very sleek and classy design. We had the opportunity to not only perform “O Daedalus” but also selections from our own repertoire. We got into formation on stage and began to practice. The moment we began singing, a wonderful energy whizzed through the choir as we realized that the Hall was one in which our sound felt controlled but explosive, a great feeling.

Quickly, it became time for us to take to the stage and perform our individual set. We began with the engaging piece, “Aint-a That Good News” which was such fun to perform in the space because our sound bounced off the walls, giving us the perfect tone. We then did “Lift Thine Eyes” and “We are…”, both old favorites of ours. At last we transitioned into positions to perform my personal favorite “Eternity”, an eight part piece designed to bring back memories to the minds of the audience.

We were then joined by the Tufts Singers on stage as we got ready to perform the piece of the night. We got of to a great start sailed through all the troubling parts of the song. The sounds of the two choirs collaborating was enormous and thrilling to be apart of. At the end of the piece, the audience erupted into applause, and one could tell by the look on the faces of the composer and conductor that it had been a great success. It was fulfilling to be apart of and left us all with a feeling of pride, not to mention, we had a great deal of fun putting the remarkable piece together!

Performance: Partnership with Emmanuel Music!

Guest Writer: Kasey Fahy. Premier Choir

On October 14, 2007 the Boston Children’s chorus had the privilege to sing with Emanuel music at Emmanuel church. This was the second year we were invited to sing a Bach cantata with the choir and it was even better than the first year. Singing with the professional choir at Emmanuel was both fun and rewarding. We were able to learn from the choir as we hope they were able to learn from us. When we were not singing we were able to listen to the enthralling solos and duets by some of Emmanuel music’s finest singers. The gracious members of the church were warm and inviting and a neighborhood choir even made cookies for us, when they found out we would be performing this weekend! The small orchestra we sang with was exquisite, and even with the tight quarters on stage they were extremely professional. Before we sang the cantata the Boston Children’s Chorus sang Lift Thine Eyes to the members of the church. Even with only a small number of Sopranos the song went well. We sang with heart and hopefully our singing warmed the chilly church. After we sang Lift Thine Eyes we walked out to a fabulous solo of In Paradisum by Miriam. This concert was both exciting and enchanting and hopefully we will be invited back to sing for many more years!

Performance: Superintendant Welcome!

Guest Writer: Mia Ferguson

On September the 25th, the premier choir joined with various organizations throughout Boston to welcome our new superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, Dr. Carol R. Johnson. After one rehearsal only, music filled the chapel of Trinity Church in Copley Square. All three performing groups, the Boston Community Choir, the Trinity Choir, and our very own Premier Choir of the Boston Children’s Chorus, performed with passion and energy individually, but when the groups joined in song together, a true unity and power encompassed the room. Not only was this event musically rewarding for us, after all we did learn a new song from Dr. Carol Johnson, it was an opportunity to experience many of our fellow students in our city. Speakers of all ages took the podium, including the Central Treble Choir’s young singer Christina Yee. In spite of her young age, Christina gave an incredible speech that was certainly memorable and exceptionally well delivered and written. Her words echoed throughout the night as the importance of education in both academics and the arts was emphasized. Another benefit of the evening was to see the red jackets of the City Year corps members filling the pews of the chapel. Their spirit and pride definitely fired up our passion and motivation to sing and spread the word about music. We now all have a confidence that Dr. Carol R. Johnson shares our commitment to music and musical education, and know that we’ll have many more brilliant students from the Boston Public School system heading our way to join us in our choirs.

Performance: 4th of July with the Boston Pops on the Esplanade!

Guest Writer: Casey Accardi

On the 4th of July, 2007, the Boston Children's Chorus had the joy of performing with the Boston Pops on the Esplanade on television in honor of the 4th of July Holiday. Early in the program we sang John Williams "Dry Your Tears Afrika" and Jill Galina's "American Pride." to both a live audience as well and millions of home viewers. Then, later on, when the television coverage became national, we joined the nation in a patriotic sing-a-long.

For me personally, this performance was the highlight of my season as a singer in BCC. When we found out that we would be singing for this event, I believe the feeling across the BCC family was one of mutual glee. It was such a huge opportunity for us as a choir, which was a great motivation to really perform the best that we possibly could.One of the pieces we sang ("Dry Your Tears Afrika") most of us were already familiar with because we had been singing it for a good part of the season, specifically for performances we did with the Boston Pops in May and June. The other piece we sang was one that we learned especially for the event, "American Pride." The second we ran through this piece, I knew it would be a great one for us to really perform and have fun with.

July 2nd through 4th were some fun, exciting, and busy times for us! On July 2th, the Concert Choir (myself included) returned home from our fantastic tour to Mexico. Then, on July 3rd, we met with select singers from many of the other BCC choirs to run our two pieces we'd be performing as a whole group at Symphony Hall. We were then loaded into Police escorted (that was exciting!) buses and transported to the Esplanade where we did some work on placement on stage and a sound check. While we were there, we got to see some of the other acts rehearse, like the Blue Man Group and the Pops Search Winner, Maria Perry... there was so much talent in one place!

Later on that evening, we returned to the Esplanade to film the dress rehearsal for the actual performance. The reason this is filmed is so if the weather is terrible on the 4th, the dress rehearsal can be televised. The dress rehearsal went really well, but I think we all hoped the weather would be good the next day so we could come back and do it live for the actual Holiday!

When it was finally the 4th of July, the future looked grim because most weather forecasts said there would be a storm later that evening (exactly when we'd be performing!) but like true performers would say, "the show must go on!" so we all arrived for our 6:30 call, ready to perform! We arrived at the Esplanade, did a few warm-ups, but mostly focused on conserving for our voices for the big event! When it finally became 8:30, we got into places and focused on the task at hand. I think everyone was a little nervous, but mostly pumped up to take the stage.

It was raining pretty hard outside, but we worked with it, as did the energetic live audience that was filled with great enthusiasm. As the final moment came, we quickly got into places on the steps of the Esplanade, put our "showfaces" on, and gave the performance our all! I would have to say that the performance was a great success, I could feel the energy onstage through every phrase, and we were all having a ton of fun! At the commence of our first set of music, there was thundering applause from the oval, and that's when I think we all realized how grateful we were to have this opportunity.

Once we got backstage, we all tried to relax and get ready for the next part of the program where we would help lead the patriotic sing-a-long. Everyone tried to calm down and get "in the zone" even though we were all so thrilled with the performing we'd just done.Our cue to get ready for the sing-a-long was John Mellencamp's fantastic performance of "Our Country." Everyone was once again quite pumped up as we scurried into place to the beat of the wonderful patriotic song.

Once we got on stage, all of our faces lit up as we performed a medley of classic American songs. To really understand the amazing experience of standing on a stage with a such a supportive chorus, backed up by one of the best orchestras in the country, with the knowledge that there were millions of people watching, is one that you really have to experience yourself. The feeling is one of pure thrill as you hit that last note with a nation singing along with you.

Performing for this amazing event is truly a milestone for the BCC and I am really glad to have been apart of it. It is certainly something I will never forget!