Children’s Festival Chorus is excited to announce that it is changing its name to Pittsburgh Youth Chorus. The name change was initiated, in part, to more accurately reflect the region the chorus serves as well as the wide age-range of talented young singers in the chorus.
The Children’s Festival Chorus was founded in 1983 when the Pittsburgh Symphony needed a children’s choir to participate in a festival performance of Mahler’s Symphony #3. That first group of children had such a wonderful first experience that they wanted to keep on singing together as a chorus. The name Children’s Festival Chorus continued to be used even though the ensemble never again participated in another festival.
According to Executive Director, Edwina French, “As we look towards the future, this is the perfect time for our organization to embrace a new name and a new brand. We’ve recently named shawn funk as our new artistic director, moved our administrative offices and we are in the process of revising our website. We are also excited to launch a new outreach program in the north and south hills of Pittsburgh called Neighborhood Training Choirs. We are a progressive and growing organization that does so much more than our current name implies.”
French further explained that by adopting “Pittsburgh” as part of the organization’s name they stake their claim as the premiere children and youth chorus in Pittsburgh. Adopting “youth” as part of the name acknowledges that its singers span many ages all the way up to young teens. Keeping “chorus” in the name acknowledges that they sing a range of musical genres both sacred and secular. By taking “festival” out of the name, it will eliminate confusion that the organization is somehow associated with a festival.
As Pittsburgh Youth Chorus, the organization will continue its mission to enrich children’s lives through professional level choral education and performance and with new artistic director Shawn Funk in place, the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus will continue its vision to become nationally recognized as a model for educating children in choral performance, sought out by families, educators, and community as a resource for developing confidence and learning through the arts.
For more information about the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus please call 412-281-4790. A new website is coming soon. For now you can still find us at www.cfc-pgh.org.
The Children’s Festival Chorus was founded in 1983 when the Pittsburgh Symphony needed a children’s choir to participate in a festival performance of Mahler’s Symphony #3. That first group of children had such a wonderful first experience that they wanted to keep on singing together as a chorus. The name Children’s Festival Chorus continued to be used even though the ensemble never again participated in another festival.
According to Executive Director, Edwina French, “As we look towards the future, this is the perfect time for our organization to embrace a new name and a new brand. We’ve recently named shawn funk as our new artistic director, moved our administrative offices and we are in the process of revising our website. We are also excited to launch a new outreach program in the north and south hills of Pittsburgh called Neighborhood Training Choirs. We are a progressive and growing organization that does so much more than our current name implies.”
French further explained that by adopting “Pittsburgh” as part of the organization’s name they stake their claim as the premiere children and youth chorus in Pittsburgh. Adopting “youth” as part of the name acknowledges that its singers span many ages all the way up to young teens. Keeping “chorus” in the name acknowledges that they sing a range of musical genres both sacred and secular. By taking “festival” out of the name, it will eliminate confusion that the organization is somehow associated with a festival.
As Pittsburgh Youth Chorus, the organization will continue its mission to enrich children’s lives through professional level choral education and performance and with new artistic director Shawn Funk in place, the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus will continue its vision to become nationally recognized as a model for educating children in choral performance, sought out by families, educators, and community as a resource for developing confidence and learning through the arts.
For more information about the Pittsburgh Youth Chorus please call 412-281-4790. A new website is coming soon. For now you can still find us at www.cfc-pgh.org.
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