Cross-Choral Training™ Workshop with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus

The Office of Arts and Special Projects just recently announced “Cross-Choral Training™,” an all-day Saturday workshop for NYC Department of Education choral/vocal teachers.

The clinicians are two master choral conductors: Dianne Berkun (right) Artistic Director and Founder of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and Jeannette LoVetri (left), BYCA’s Voice Specialist.

BYCA’s Cross-Choral Training™ method is functional voice training applied in a group setting, based on the latest information on voice science and knowledge of the young voice. Through the development of vocal registers and resonance adjustments, singers develop the capacity to perform music of diverse genres and styles authentically, and to respond to musical and expressive demands of the most challenging choral repertoire.

The workshop will be held at the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy, 179 Pacific Street, Brooklyn (near the F train stop at Bergen Street) from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday, January 28.

Choral Music

The Choral Information Site offers a lot of useful material for directors and teachers.

The Internet Center for Choral Resources serves all choirs (adult, children, church).

The Choristers Guild serves primarily church choirs. Their catalog offers literacy materials and videos, including some on the master teacher Helen Kemp. Kemp’s video, Body, Mind, Spirit, Voice is sometimes hard to find.

At Musicanet, browse through 143,000 choral works available for download, for free.

Singers.com is a wonderful site primarily for a capella singing, and it offers a ton of print resources in its sections on “Teaching  Kids How to Sing.”

Young People’s Chorus of New York City

Books:

• Teaching Kids to Sing by Ken Phillips (Wadsworth, 1996).

• Teaching the Elementary School Chorus by Linda Swears (Parker, 1985).

• Choral Music Experience by Doreen Rao, Vols 1-5, (Boosey & Hawkes, 1987).

• Choral Music for Children. (MENC, 1990).

• We Will Sing! (Boosey & Hawkes, 1994).

P.S. 22 Chorus performances on YouTube

Take a look and listen at some videos of the elementary school chorus at P.S. 22 in Staten Island, including the very strong solos by their young singers.

This is an example of a chorus that uses very up-to-date repertoire — without resorting to karaoke-style unison performances with a digital track.

They have a lot of performances available online at the P.S. 22 Chorus YouTube Channel, and also a blog. On SchoolTube you can watch their rehearsal of the Suzanne Vega song “Language.”