NJ Youth Chorus to Hold Auditions May 7, June 4

The New Jersey Youth Chorus is excited to announce auditions for all choir levels in its program for the 2016-17 Season. Audition dates are May 7 and June 4, and can be scheduled directly through the Chorus’ website: http://www.njyouthchorus.org/AuditionApplication

The New Jersey Youth Chorus, founded by Trish Joyce, Artistic Director, will celebrate its 25th Anniversary Season next year with many exciting performances and workshops scheduled. NJYC is an auditioned choral program for children in grades three through twelve, divided into five ensembles: Primo Coro (grades 4-5), Sola Voce (girls, grades 6 - 8), Coro Vivo (boys, grades 5 – 8), Coriste (girls, grades 8-12), and Camerata (boys, grades 7 – 12 for changing and changed voices). Next year will see the addition of Primi Passi, a musicianship class for 2nd and 3rd graders, which will meet for 8 weeks in the Fall, and 8 weeks in the Spring. The Chorus performs locally, nationally and internationally for community, civic and corporate audiences. Over two-hundred thirty choristers come from almost 40 towns in six counties of New Jersey. The heart of its mission is to provide exceptional choral music education and performance experiences, fostering expression, artistry and growth.

The Chorus performs frequently with many professional ensembles, including the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and Canadian Brass. They sang at the State Theater’s Gala under Oscar and Grammy-award winning composer Marvin Hamlisch and Bill Conti, composer of television and movie themes, including Rocky. They were a featured choir at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 American Choral Directors Association’s Eastern Division Conference, and the only children’s choir to be invited to sing at Chorus America’s 2009 National Conference. They have also sung with Irish tenor, Ronan Tynan, appeared on the Today Show, and have sung at Carnegie Hall. The Chorus has also participated in numerous festivals in New Orleans, Hawaii, Canada, and England, and has toured Italy, Ireland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

NJYC regularly hosts visiting youth choirs, such as Cantus, the premier men’s ensemble in the United States, the Drakensberg Boys Choir from South Africa, the Bach Children’s Chorus from Canada, the Crypt Choir from King's School in Canterbury, England, Escolania de Montserrat from Spain, the Lincoln Boys Choir from Nebraska, the Greater Atlanta Girls Choir, Rocky Mountain Children’s Choir, New Hampshire Children’s Choir, Colgate 13 and Ithacapella. Music educator workshops are also a regular part of the Chorus' offerings.

The choir's "Kids for Kids" mission includes opportunities to perform and assist children’s organizations and charities. Funds have been raised for a summer camp for children of September 11 victims, Hearts Across the Ocean, for children needing open heart surgery in India, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Bryan’s Dream Foundation, for children with brain tumors, Autism Speaks, Neighborhood House and others. They performed at the Saving Grace Gala in NYC, which benefited the Preeclampsia Foundation and the Foundation for America’s Blood Centers. During the Gala, they premiered a new piece written by Jim Papoulis, specifically for the event. Recently, they performed for the Matthew Larson Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Gala in NYC, for the Greg Wolf Fund, which targets leukemia and other blood cancers, and for Team 26, which raises awareness of gun violence.

Recent performance highlights include “America the Beautiful” with Queen Latifah at Super Bowl XLVIII, an invited performance with 6-time Grammy Award winners The Chieftains in NYC, a recording of works by internationally known composer Z. Randall Stroope (at the composer’s request), a High School Festival at Carnegie Hall, Westminster Choir College's Lessons and Carols in Princeton, a performance for Citibank in NYC, and a recorded CD, “Stand Together, Music of Hope and Healing,” which is being donated to cancer patients at area hospitals. This season includes two performances with the New Jersey Symphony of Home Alone, a performance at the ACDA National Children's and Youth Choirs Conductors Retreat, a performance at the 2016 ACDA Eastern Division Convention in Boston, a performance with Canadian Brass, participation in the ManChoir Festival in Philadelphia, a performance for the Team 26 event in Morristown, NJ, the National Anthem for the NY Mets, the National Anthem at the Yogi Berra Museum, and a performance for the opening ceremony of Relay for Life, as well as tours to New Orleans, Disneyland, and Canada.

For more information on the New Jersey Youth Chorus, or to schedule an audition, please visit our website at www.njyouthchorus.org.