What BCC Means to Me - One Part of My Normal Life

By: Precious Perez, Central Intermediate

Precious has been in BCC for two years.  She is 13 years old.

It was a Thursday rehearsal when I presented a video of a day in my life with a visual impairment to Central Intermediate.  I was quite nervous, unsure of whether or not it would be beneficial, or would make a difference in the way the rest of the choir thought of me.

My video presentation entitled Precious Perez: A Day In the Life contained scenes of walking outside using my cane, adapted card games, and other significant and valuable information that would guide the rest of the choir and staff to better understand my disability, capability, and accommodations which allow me to live a perfectly normal and regular life.  Everyone was welcoming and honest, and I felt that my goal was achieved, that my goal of feeling that I am part of the choir as opposed to feeling special or different, which I am not.

All I am is visually impaired, and all that means is that my eyes do not work, but that does not keep me from doing the things that everyone else does and more, and as this presentation and its outcome show, all everyone needs is a little bit of education to surpass the assumption and misconception, and to expand their horizons with truth and reality.

Editor's Note: Because of technical problems, we are not able to share Precious' video presentation here, as she would have liked. However, we do have some footage of the follow-up Q&A that she had with her fellow singers.

What BCC Means to Me - So Much More Than Just Tuesdays and Thursdays

By: Elizabeth Stutts, Premier Choir

Elizabeth has been in BCC for 7 years. She is 16 years old.

Elizabeth during her first tour (to Japan) in 2005.

In my very first year in the chorus, I was able to go with the group on a tour during the summer to Japan. That more than anything else began to define my experiences with the chorus, and became one of the reasons I stayed involved in it for year after year. Thanks to BCC, I could go to places that my family would not be able to go to, or send me, for many different reasons. Not only that, but I was going to these different places for a reason- I was going as a performer, as an "ambassador of harmony." I could learn from this place I was going, and I had something I could contribute there as well. I learned that on my very first tour, and I have only had that knowledge affirmed since then.
 
Tour, and performances, were at first the biggest draws of the Boston Children's Chorus for me. Both were something new and exciting for me, something that I had never really been given a previous chance to experience. Over time, however, more reasons were added on to these first two. I got to meet and become friends with many of my fellow chorus members over the years, thanks to the frequent rehearsals, performances, and even tour. What had before been simply a group of children changed with each year. The ties between all of us got stronger, and soon enough, the group was close enough to become a family. At first, I don't believe many of us noticed it, and I know that I almost certainly didn't. Perhaps we all really began to notice it when we had our first graduating senior, because at that point we had our first person who left the chorus because they had gotten to old- not because they wanted to leave. That departure was a moving experience for many of us, and it showed just how much of a family we had become. The last performance in every year is now a monumental occasion, because in some cases, it is the last time that some members of the group will ever have to perform with us. It is then that we mourn the presence of a friend who is leaving us.

I know that next year, my senior year, will be hectic for many reasons, primarily because of the high expectations of the charter school I now attend. This year as well has been very trying on me, as all of my classes are more demanding than ever before, and maintaining good grades requires a great amount of time and effort. No matter how hard it gets, though, I am not going to give up on the time I have remaining with the chorus. It means too much to me to let this go without doing my best to stick through things as long as I can. I have made my closest friends through this community, and even the people I don't know as well I feel connected to, because we share something- a love of music and a commitment to BCC.

This community is much more open, and all-encompassing, and welcoming, than any I have ever been a part of, and I would have to be insane to give up a group that can look at a person for who they are, and accept them and love them for it. That has helped me to learn about myself, and not be afraid to be myself, even if being myself might seem strange to my peers at school. Their opinions do not matter to me as much as the encouragement I receive to be an individual whenever I come into chorus for rehearsal. I have had my eyes opened in so many ways over the years, it is impossible to describe. The chorus has touched nearly every aspect of my life.

If nothing else, when I do finally graduate, I doubt I will ever know again what to do with my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. That is the time when rehearsal is supposed to be, after all.

What BCC Means to Me - The Importance of Connections

By: Ell McGrath, Concert Choir 
Ell has been in BCC for 4 years. She is 16 years old.

Editors Note: Ms. McGrath recently went on an excursion with her choir to Worcester, MA and Shrewsbury, MA. The text below is from her speech to concert attendees about the impact of Boston Children's Chorus on her life. 

The BCC mission statement says that BCC inspires social change through music. It is my belief that social change is not created though ideas, but through connections formed between individuals. For example, when I study for school, I absorb facts (ideas) through a book, by myself. But when we sing together, as a chorus, we do it together, and I believe that that creates social change. 

When you walk into any rehearsal at BCC there's that connection - a bond between us all; a sort of language our hearts already know how to speak.  In our Chorus, there are a number of different cultures and ideas. Everyone is different, yet we harmonize; not only with out voices, but with our hearts as well.

It is that same harmonization that has brought us all together, who would probably never have even thought to give each other the time of day. This is how BCC has affected me.

Elizabeth shares her perspective on BCC's impact during a recent excursion.

What BCC Means to Me - "Before and After"

Editors Note: In the upcoming weeks, we will feature posts from our singers on what BCC means to them. The first in this series is a poem by Spencer Boisvert titled "Before and After." Spencer has been singing with BCC for four years. He is 13 years old. 

Before and After

Day by day I see

I see the differences

in people

In their culture

In their physical appearance

I see all of the personalities

Before singing I saw in black and white

I saw people who were different

It scared me

Now

Now I see in color

The colors of the rainbow

Day by day I see

I see the differences

in people