Wednesday, June 11, 2003
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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 |
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Fayette Youth Chorale enjoys successful year The Fayette Youth Chorale celebrated their fifth year with a trip to New York City and a performance at Lincoln Center. The FYC, a local community children's choir for gifted young singers, ages 9-14, was invited to participate in the National Middle School Honor Choir by the conductor, Dr. Randall Stroope. Dr. Stroope is a professor of music at the University of Nebraska, conductor of the Nebraska Children's Choir, and a noted composer of music for young singers. "I am a big fan of his music for treble chorus and have performed many of his pieces with my choirs over the years. When Dr. Stroope called with the invitation last summer, we jumped at the opportunity," said Millie Turek, the director and founder of the Fayette Youth Chorale. The members of the FYC joined with members of the Nebraska Children's Choir and other middle school singers from Alabama and Florida to comprise the National Middle School Honor Choir. The performance at Lincoln Center was a thrill for the local singers when they learned they were on the same stage as the New York Philharmonic and many famous musicians throughout history. When not in rehearsal, the FYC members toured New York City seeing the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, NBC Studios, Times Square, and Madame Tousseau's Wax Museum. On their first night in New York, they attended the Tony award winning Broadway show, "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Turek was surprised to see an old high school friend in the cast and took some FYC singers back stage to meet him. Although the trip was during spring break in April, FYC members were still able to ice skate at Rockefeller Plaza. On the final day of the trip, New York was hit with a six inch snow storm which almost extended their stay. For the FYC, the performance in New York was a highlight of a terrific year which also included performances at the Sandy Creek High School's First Madrigal Dinner, the Georgia Youth Ballet's Nutcracker, and local holiday and spring concerts. Over the last five years the group has performed locally as well as in New Orleans at the Crescent City Children's Choir Festival, the Georgia Music Educators Association State In-Service Convention in Savannah, and in North Carolina at the Choral Music Experience Teacher Training Institute. The group of 38 auditioned singers, boys and girls with unchanged treble voices, comes from Fayette and Coweta Counties and meets weekly at Sandy Creek High School on Mondays from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Karen Moseley, choral director at Arnall Middle School in Coweta County, serves as the choir coordinator. To become a member of the Fayette Youth Chorale for the 2003-2004 season, interested young singers should call 770-474-1948 to schedule an audition appointment.
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