Madison Youth Choirs Inc

Programs: Madison youth choirs educates over 500 children ages 7-18 annually through eleven choirs delivering a rich music education focused on critical thinking and nurturing a lifelong appreciation for the arts. Weekly rehearsals and repertoire are carefully planned around a semester theme in which conductor-teachers challenge students to make connections between the music and a specific idea. The first semester of our 2016-17 season celebrated the 400th anniversary of shakespeare's birth and focused on the specific elements that combine to create compelling art that stands the test of time. Students studied motif, tension, structure, and rhythm in their music as well as in selections from shakespeare's vast body of work. Our second semester was an exploration of identifying patterns, puzzles, and secret structures in a variety of complex musical compositions with the goal of discovering the great rewards of seeking brilliance and beauty wherever they hide. In the summer of 2016, 68 members of our girl choirs participated in the aberdeen international youth festival in scotland. Our members performed for audiences across northeast scotland and with numerous musicians from across the globe creating a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students.

madison youth choirs produced two public concerts during the 2016-17 season. Our winter concert, shakespeare 400 and our spring concert: hide & seek: cracking the musical code, displayed diverse musical repertoire spanning several centuries and traditions and included appearances by numerous professional guest musicians. Our spring concert honored the fifth recipient of our carrel pray music educator of the year award. In addition, many myc members were collaborative performers in concerts with the madison opera, madison symphony orchestra, augustana college choir, and opera for the young.

our education outreach efforts, with the goal of eliminating barriers to arts participation across diverse sectors of the community, expanded in 2016-17. In the spring of 2017, all nine of our performing choirs participated in local outreach tours, performing for free at 25 area schools and retirement homes. As a result, over 8,000 school children and retired adults enjoyed a high-quality choral performance and got a peek inside our educational programming. Our in-school choral education programming continued in three madison elementary schools. Now reaching over 200 students, our in-school recess choirs bring a choral rehearsal and performance experience to kids who previously had limited access to the performing arts. Myc staff also provides professional development and mentoring to music educators through this program. In january 2017, myc hosted over 400 boys from throughout southern wisconsin, ages 8-18, at the madison boychoir festival, a dynamic half-day choral rehearsal experience culminating in a free public performance for over 1,000 community members. Participation in this festival is largely subsidized by funding secured by myc so that any boy who wishes to participate in the only boychoir festival in wisconsin may do so. Finally, the intergenerational choir brings together the young singers of madison youth choirs with the residents of capitol lakes retirement community to create a unique, innovative musical ensemble that benefits from blending voices with a wide range of life experiences. Through this program, which is supported in part by the madison community foundation, we hope to demonstrate that creative expression is vital at every age and encourage further collaboration between artists of different generations.