The World of Children's and Youth Choirs
Moreover, it is not only their general mu sical skills that will develop, but their voca l skiUs too. Because the childr en have been trained to grasp mu sical stru ctur es, lega to singing - th e very ba sis of healthy vocal development - cornes naturally to them. Most of the sigh t-reading work is clone individua lly at home. Once the children are aware of wh at it mean s to "sing with under standing", practising at home will prove no problem but will even feel like an ointm ent for the voice. Learning the trade of sin gin g is not like a toug h cycle ride through wind and rain wit h a war m shelter miles away, but a tour of exp lora tion starting ri ght at h ome and offer in g the most splendid discoveries along the way. The ultim a te goa l of the method is to attain musical ind epe nd ence, enab ling children to "read" a new piece of mu sic and perform it together on the spot. To a large extent so lfège training is like teac hi ng them to read : both aim at brin ging p ieces of art - whether it be mu sical or literary withi n a chil d's reach, so that he or she no longer need s the help of others to enjoy it. If this is achieved, a ho st of new challenges unfold s: • shar ing the joy of makin g mu sic together • helping the voice develop its character
• refinin g interpretative skills bot h musi cally an d textua lly • expressing one self through music • responding properly to any conductor 's instructions • enco uraging musical init iative and responsibility The aim is not to s tud y a piece and si mpl y repro du ce it in the same manner time and again, but to exp lore the music to make it one's own, so that one feels confident enough to let the spur of the mome nt inspire the pe rformance. This way the music will always remain fresh and a joy for the childr en to sing, over and over again .
Wilma te11 Wolde is the nrtistic leader and co11ductor of both tire Nether ln11ds C!,i/dren's Choir n11dthe Netherlm1ds Yout!, Choir. She studied Choral Co11ducti11g n11d Clrurch Music nt The Hague and Rotterdam Co11servntories , n11dt/1eScie11ce of Music nt the U11iversity of Utreclrt. S!,e specinlised i11 the pedngogy of 11111 sicnl n11dvocal educntio11of yo1111gsters and /,as pr1blislredsevernl articles 011the subject. Te11Wolde is the director n11d nrtistic leader of tire Vivn ln M11sicnC/roir Sc/coolwhic/csirefo111rded i111987. She tenc/1es solfège n11de11semblesi11ging nt the Royal i11The Hague. Co11servntory (wi/111nte 11wolde@pln11et.11/)
Tire Netl1e rla11ds Clzildre11's Choir ,
fo1111ded i111989, co11sistsof c/1ildre11from 8-15 from al/ over the Netherlm1ds.They attend music classes in their 11eighbourhoods and gnt/rer for choir relrenrsnl s every mo11th.The choirhns deve/oped a largerepertoireof mostly a cappella works, bot!, sewlnr n11d sacred,from ni/ erns. They give regulnr co11certsn11dradio and te/evisio11perfor111m1ces, n11dhave recorded severa/ CDs. Tire choir hns nlso tnke11part i11productions of tire Royal Co11certgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Phil/,ar111011ic Orchestran11dthe Dutc/1Nntio11nlOpera.
11zeNetl1erln11ds Yout/1Choir wnsfo1111d ed in 1996 as a sequel to the Net herln11ds Childre11'sChoir. 1t co11sislsof you11gwo111e11 betwee1116 n11d25 yenrs of age. The droristers prepnre their scores nt home n11dgnther for choir rehenrsnlsevery 111011th. O11cen yenr n is i11vited for n pnrticulnrchoral gczestco11ductor project (Bo Jolrn11sso11, Harold Lenseli11k, Dn11ie/Reuss, Bo Holten). Ill May 2002 tire youth choirwo11the 1st prize su111111n wm lnr1de i11tiresupreme cntegory of the Europen11 Music . At the music Festival i11Neerpelt (Belgi11m) contes/ Î/1 Tolosa (Spni11)i11November 2002, the choir won the 1st prize for its sew lnr programmen11d211dprizefor ils sncredprogrm11me .
Henry
Leck
FestivalArtisticDirector Founderand Artistic Directorof the Indianapolis Children'sChoir; Director of Choral Activitiesal Bu~erUniversity; lnternationallyknown specialistand dinician in choral techniques, the child'svoice and the boy's changing voice.
HOST CHOIR
Hawai'i YouthOpera Chorus Nola A. Nëhulu, Artistic Director
a,a,a111••
HM1flfM
July .luly • July
15 - 23, 2003 6 - 14, 2004 12 - 20, 2005
This 9 -day residential program is designed for Advanced Treble Choirs. Limited space is also available for lndependent Directors.
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Copyrigh t © 2003 by the International Fcdcration for Choral Music ---------
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Pacifie Rim MUSIC RESOURCES
Wando Gereben, ExecutiveDirector Tel: (808) 595-0233 • Fox: (808) 595-5 129 Email:info@PocRimFes tivol.org www.PocR imFest ivol.org
l nlc mali onal Chor al Bullclin • Oc lobcr 2003
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