Lifting Up the Littles: Highlighting Your Youngest Singers Through Commissioned Works, Effective Rehearsal, and Performance Opportunities

ChorTeach is ACDA’s quarterly online publication, designed for those who work with singers of all levels but specifically K-12 and community choirs. A full annotated ChorTeach index is available online at acda.org/publications/chorteach. Over 160 articles are organized into seventeen categories. For more information, email  or visit acda.org/chorteach. Following is an excerpt from an article in the Fall 2022 issue titled “Lifting Up the Littles: Highlighting Your Youngest Singers through Commissioned Works, Effective Rehearsal, and Performance Opportunities” by Jess Edelbrock.
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Our youngest singers can do amazing things. They are keenly connected to their inner sense of musicality, they want to be challenged and uplifted, and they deserve opportunities to shine just as much as choirs that sing the most complex repertoire. These are some of the sentiments I hoped to communicate when the Tucson Girls Chorus’ Bumblebee Singers performed at the ACDA National Children’s & Community Youth Choir Conductors’ Retreat in January 2022.

The “Bees” are TGC’s K/1 choir, and the centerpiece of their set was “Now We Have Rivers,” commissioned specifically for the Bumblebee Singers. The whole retreat concert was intended to showcase singers from all ages—from the Bees to the Cadet Choir from Phoenix Boys’ Chorus (grades 2-3), to the middle school groups from Chandler Childrens’ Chorus and Tucson Boys Chorus, up through the high school singers from the TGC and Phoenix Children’s Chorus. It was an honor to be a part of a concert that was so intentionally crafted to accurately demonstrate the actual work so many of us do every day. All of the conductors involved in this concert were so proud to showcase the depth of artistry that all ages are capable of, and we hope the multi-age structure can serve as a model for national conferences and other high-profile performances to come.

In this article we will explore ideas and practical applications for highlighting your youngest singers, setting them up for success, and showcasing their immense capabilities throughout your community.

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Read the full article in the Fall 2022 issue at acda.org/chorteach.