City singers want
to unite Boston through song
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Boston City Singers,
whose goal is to "unite Boston's neighborhoods through
song," was one of eight choruses from across Canada and
the United States chosen to perform at the Niagara International
Music Festival in St. Catharine's, Ontario earlier this month.
"We want to continue to
bring kids from the different neighborhoods of Boston and
from outside communities together to sing," said Jane
Money, artistic director of BCS.
The group began as an urban
outreach program of the Newton-based Youth Pro Musica before
setting out on its own in 2003. It now has about 130 children,
including some from West Roxbury and Roslindale, in six divisions
who meet in Dorchester, South Boston and Jamaica Plain. The
group expects to grow to 200 singers from ages 6 to 18 next
season. The touring group rehearses at All Saints Church's
hall in Dorchester, where it holds holiday and spring annual
concerts.
"We are all a community
of friends. I really like getting to sing good music,"
said BCS member Jack Carroll of West Roxbury.
Carroll, 12, a student at Roxbury
Latin School, said he knows he has really grown musically
since he began singing with the group when he was seven. His
two sisters, Kasey and Leigh, also sing with the group.
"The tour seems like it
is really going to be fun. It will be fun getting to see all
the choirs sing and getting to hear them," he said. "I
think it will be good to work with other directors and see
the differences."
For Shu Yi Zhou, heading to
BCS rehearsal each week is pure joy. But the shy Boston Latin
School eighth-grader admits that going different places to
sing is not always her favorite thing.
"Rehearsal time is more
friendly than my school. In school, I really don't get to
talk to people," she said.
Being in the choir "really
helps me with my people skills," said Zhou, an honors
student who loves languages and cryptology.
Money said that although BCS
has hosted international groups from as far away as South
Africa and Australia and has sung at dozens of impressive
Boston area venues, this is only their second trip outside
of the area.
"The children in our program
need to know that they are not learning something in isolation.
It furthers their understanding of the world and the world
of music. They will be meeting with kids from Canada and all
over the United States who also share their love of singing,"
she said.
Money said going on tour and
working with other top national groups "helps develop
excellent skills. You have to go out and present something
difficult. You have to do it well and you have to do it as
part of a team. We will really be working on our presentation
skills, how to appear confident before a large audience, even
if they don't feel that way."
She said the group will have
its own concert and the chance to perform with all the choral
groups in a joint concert. They will have an opportunity to
work under the direction of internationally acclaimed composer
and director Stephen Hatfield of Vancouver Island.
In its own concert, BCS will
perform nine "technically difficult" songs, including
those from Australia and Russia and some in different languages.
The songs "have all been chosen to further our missions
of exploring any and all different cultures and periods of
times," Money said.
"We have to be good to
even qualify for Niagara. We're on a very small budget and
rely on volunteer effort. In the end we are pleased to be
able to provide these kids with really great opportunities,"
Money said.
Many of the singers receive
scholarships and the group is continuing its fund-raising
efforts.
Brendan Attridge was fascinated
when he learned of the Australian composer Paul Jarman's song
called "Shackleton." Attridge spent hours searching
for information on Ernest Shackelton, the Antarctic explorer,
and found a movie about him which he watched over and over
again, Money recalled. She said many of the children had not
heard of the Sami culture when they first began to sing "The
Winter's Night," but soon were bringing in information
to share with the group.
"It was fantastic to see
how they wanted to learn and not just the words and music.
It is just that kind of group," she said.
Although children must audition
to be in BCS' concert choir, Money said one unique thing about
BCS is that it takes children who simply like to sing into
its training choruses.
"We assume in most cases
that children have no experience in music. They must have
an interest and willingness to sing," she said. "Our
challenge in the coming year will be strengthening our training
programs."
Money said that her group has
performed 25 times in the past year, including First Night,
the Museum of Fine Arts and Garden of Peace Memorial Garden
dedication. "We try to find performing opportunities
for all levels. This past year, they collaborated with Young
Achievers Community Meeting drummers and Boston Ballet's Taking
Steps program.
Money, a native of Auckland,
New Zealand, said she was lucky to begin singing as a child
in her family's small Methodist church under the direction
of an inspiring children's choir director.
"She made us feel that
we were doing a very important thing. She made us feel appreciated
and respected," said Money.
Money, who has signature blond
curly hair and Down Under accent, came to the United States
to study music in a graduate program at Stanford University.
She later met her husband, Chris Chase, a native of Colorado.
The two never left Boston and have lived in Dorchester for
the past 20 years. They have four children, all of whom sing
and two who are members of BCS. Jane Money is also the director
of youth choirs at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Wellesley.
In addition to looking forward
to the festival, which will include a trip to Niagara Falls
for the singers, Money is looking ahead to the fall.
"I look at a wide variety
of music, somewhere around 200 pieces. Then I narrow it down
to 30 to 40 that we will work with for the year," Money
said. "What I try to do is find a program that's very
varied that people of all ages will enjoy listening to and
the children will enjoy singing most of the time."
"It's not a good sign if
I don't like a piece after the third rehearsal. It will generally
get scrapped," she said. "I also have to make sure
there's no too much music for the kids to learn."
Money said she hopes the children
will learn how to sing whole variety of styles, including
gospel, classical, jazz, Broadway and folk songs from many
different countries. Sometimes singers have taken a stab at
arranging as well.
In the upcoming year, a grant
from Choral Arts New England will allow the group to sing
five Vietnamese pieces from composer Margaret King. Since
they will be hosting a choral group from Finland two years
from now, she has added the song "Vem Kan Segla"
(Who can sail without the wind?) to the repertoire.
This fall the group will also
be taking the lead in hosting the Cross Border Orchestra of
Ireland, which was set up as a peace building initiative.
It is made up 130 Catholic and Protestant youths. Some 350
singers will join the orchestra at Symphony Hall on Nov. 4.
Working with Money are Tom Morris,
who directs the BCS groups in Jamaica Plain and South Boston,
and Judith Kotok of the Longy School of Music, who works with
singers in grades 3, 4 and 5 in Dorchester.
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