The award-winning Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir (SVCC) is headed to New York City Memorial Day Weekend to perform at Carnegie Hall.
The SVCC, celebrating its twentieth year, will sing with guest director Ruth Dwyer of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir and perform by invitation Saturday, May 26 in the city’s famed venue with four other children’s choirs.
The choir will perform nine selections on themes emphasizing the joy of singing, faith in God and delight in nature. This will include Japanese and French folk songs, a jazz number by Duke Ellington, an ancient Hebrew affirmation of faith, a new arrangement of an old spiritual, and several recent works by living composers.
The Carnegie Hall children’s choir festival is organized by MidAmerica Productions of New York, which has recently announced the participation of the Oregon Repertory Singers (Portland), Evansville Children’s Choir (IN), Dominican Academy (Manhattan, NY), and Saint Dominic’s Academy (Jersey City, NJ).
The SVCC will serve as anchor choir for the event.
The concert on Saturday evening, May 26, will also include a collegiate/high school choir festival performing Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 “Hymn of Praise” conducted by William Wyman, and the Ensemble Spotlight Series featuring the Jackson High School Honors Wind & Percussion Ensemble from Mill Creek, Wash., under the direction of Leslie Moffat.
This is the SVCC’s third appearance at Carnegie Hall.
Under the leadership of Julia J. White, Artistic Director, The SVCC is part of the music department of Eastern Mennonite University and includes 150 children, ages 6-17.
For more information regarding the schedule and auditions May 17 and 18, contact Yvette Peake, choir manager, at 540-432-4650 or email svcc@emu.edu. More information on the SVCC can be found at svcc.org.