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upcoming tour information.
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In 1997, director Kris Mason and the board
of Seattle Children’s Chorus pursued an
opportunity to serve the Puget Sound area
children’s choir community by hosting a
festival for young, newly formed children’s
choirs The Seattle Children’s Chorus
hosted the Puget Sound Children’s Choral
Festival at Fort Worden in Port Townsend,
Washington, in June, 1997, which included a
grand performance in the McCurdy Performing
Arts Pavilion
In June of 1998, the Chorus fulfilled one of its long time dreams as they embarked on their first overseas tour to
England
, performing in
London
and southern
England
and participating in a week of concerts and events at the MusicMakers Festival in
Bournemouth
,
England
. The Chorus (with choristers ages 10-18) received top honors as Senior Youth Choir of the Year, competing against all-high school groups
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| The Chorus attended the Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival in
Eugene
,
Oregon
in June, 1999 when 70 choristers participated in conjunction with the Oregon Bach Festival In the summer of 2000, another significant festival opportunity became reality for both our Performing Chorus and our newly formed Chamber Singers as they participated in the International Choral Kathaumixw in
Powell River
,
British Columbia
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Benaroya
Hall, Marvin Hamlish Guest Conductor
Spring 2007
Arioso |
In 2000, the Seattle Children's Chorus broadened the offerings available to our younger choristers by participating in the first festival for our Intermediate Choristers (now Intermezzo) at
Fort
Worden
in Port Townsend This first touring experience readied our 10-12 year old choristers for the World of Children's Choirs Festival in
Vancouver
,
British Columbia
in March, 2001
The Performing Chorus (Arioso) and Chamber Singers (Camerata) toured
Sweden
and
Norway
in the summer of 2001, delighting their Scandinavian audiences. They performed in Troldhaugen, the concert hall at the home of Edvard Grieg in
Bergen
, at the Uppsalla Cathedral near
Stockholm
and in a number of churches in the surrounding area of southern
Sweden
In the summer of 2002, the Performing Chorus participated in the Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival as a featured choir and performed as part of the Oregon Bach Festival in
Eugene
,
Oregon
The Performing Chorus (now Arioso) participated in the Heritage Children’s Choir Festival in
Vancouver
,
British Columbia
in April, 2003
Camerata was honored to be featured at the Niagara International Music Festival in
Ontario
,
Canada
in 2003 Jonathan Willcocks, guest clinician at the Niagara Festival, complimented Camerata indicating …. what a great pleasure it was to spend time with you and work with your fine choir in the recent Niagara Festival. I was full of admiration for how they sang…. they sing with such commitment and musicality. Barbara Clark, artistic director of the Niagara International Music Festival also wrote: Your performances at the
Niagara
Festival were certainly a highlight for me and I know, for others as well. The beautiful tone and blend that your singers have in voices so young are just superb.
Seattle Children’s Chorus is becoming recognized in American choral circles as an outstanding vocal arts youth organization. Arioso was honored to be invited to sing for the American Choral Directors Association regional convention in
Seattle
in the spring of 2000 Camerata has also been invited to perform at the ACDA regional convention in
Boise
,
Idaho
in March of 2004
Recently, Arioso performed for the Chorister’s Guild Directors’ Enrichment Conference in
Tacoma
,
Washington
Duane Roth of the Choristers Guild responded to the performance by saying: Your sense of musicality and wonderful technique inspire us all in the art of singing.
The Chorus toured Eastern Europe in the summer of 2004, making stops in Salzburg , Austria ; Prague , Czech Republic ; and Krakow and Warsaw , Poland.
Arioso and Camerata will be embarking on a wonderful musical tour to the country of Brazil in July of 2007. An exciting itinerary is being planned with stops in Rio de Janeiro, home of the famous cable car ride up Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer statue; Petropolis, where SCC is honored to participate in the Brazilian National Congress of Children’s Choirs; and the city of Paraty, located on the coast with beautiful Portuguese colonial architecture and cobbled streets.
ACDA National Convention 2005
The ACDA is one of the largest professional organizations for choral directors in the world, with a membership of over 18,000 directors representing one million singers. Composed of choral musicians from schools, universities, churches, communities and the music industry, the ACDA holds its national convention every two years, with each of the seven ACDA divisions meeting on the off years.
A performance at the ACDA National Convention is the Super Bowl of choral music, and you're not accepted to sing at the ACDA National Convention unless you're an outstanding choir. This is an acknowledgment of the hard work invested by the membership and by the conductor.
The American Choral Directors Association presented its biennial National Convention in Los Angeles, February 2-5, 2005. Approximately, 6,000-7,000 choral directors from around the world will be there for this premier choral event. Seattle Childrens Chorus's Arioso was invited, and did participate in this convention.
Based on a record high number of choirs who auditioned for a convention performance, the record number of interest session proposals submitted for consideration, and the very impressive quality of the applications received, the 2005 National Convention promises to be a truly historical event for the organization. Arioso was among the 100 choirs who were invited to sing at the convention.
Venues for concerts include the recently opened Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the Immanuel Presbyterian Church, the Wilshire Christian Church, and the Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Headlining the convention will be performances of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, as well as performances by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
