Lifting Young Voices in Song

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Image: My-Van Nguyen (Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts)

A music teacher at Dominion High School in Sterling is using a $2,500 grant from the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts to bring a musical artist-in-residence to the school

To address the shortage of male singers in her chorus, music teacher My-Van Nguyen used her grant to enlist international performer and vocal teacher Jim Van Slyke to serve as artist-in-residence. Slyke is drawing male singers to the program, offering specialized techniques in areas such as breath control, tone and tempo, the foundation said.

This spring, the Dominion High School Music Department will host a one-day male choral festival with male choral students from Dominion, Seneca Ridge Middle School and other surrounding-area schools. Scott Tucker, conductor of the Choral Arts Society of Washington, will serve as guest conductor.

Nguyen is one of six performing arts teachers from the Washington area high schools to receive grsants for new arts initiatives, the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts said in an announcement.

For more information on the program, click here.