Sounds of the Season: A Community of Children’s Voices – Tulsa, OK

TULSA, Okla. - Dec. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- This holiday season marks the beginning of what’s sure to become a Tulsa tradition for many years to come, Sounds of the Season: A Community of Children’s Voices. The Tulsa Children’s Chorus will collaborate with Holland Hall Middle School Honor Choir to bring tidings of great joy to the Tulsa community. Join us for an evening of choral artistry and beauty into the winter season. As the most honorable children’s chorus in the state of Oklahoma founded almost 25 years ago, the Tulsa Children’s Chorus continues its legacy of providing a quality choral music education experience to children within the Tulsa-Metro area and beyond. Ashlee Elmore, Ginny LeDoux and Lori Swisher have diligently prepared their singers for a spectacular evening of Christmas favorites and variations on familiar tunes.

A bit of history on the performing choirs…

The Holland Hall Middle School Honor Choir was formed in 2010 by Holland Hall music teachers, Lori Swisher and Ginny LeDoux.  Open to all students in grades 4-8, the non-auditioned choir meets at 7:10 one day each week before school.  In addition to performing for various events at Holland Hall, the choir has sung at many area senior living venues and in partnership with the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus.  In 2012 the choir sang in Carnegie Hall under the direction of John Rutter and Dr. Tim Sharp along with TOC , the Tulsa Children's Chorus and other invited choirs.  Mrs. Swisher and Mrs. LeDoux have had auditioned students from within the choir, accepted into regional and national American Choral Director Honor Choirs every year since 2011, including this coming February, 2015 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  The unusually large choirs in both the middle and upper school at Holland Hall can be partially attributed to the valuable training and experience that students in the MSHC bring to their respective choirs.

Founded in 1991 by Ginny LeDoux, the Tulsa Children's Chorus remains one of the most prestigious and best-recognized choral organizations in Oklahoma. The Tulsa Children’s Chorus began as part of the Community Arts School of Tulsa, a joint venture of Tulsa Public Schools and the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa with the intention of offering students arts enrichment in the greater Tulsa area. Enrollment for the first semester of twelve weeks was 10 students. In fall of 1991 several additional students joined the chorus and rehearsals were moved from Saturday mornings to Tuesday afternoons.

By spring of 1994, over 65 singers from as many as 35 schools were members of the Tulsa Children’s Chorus. Consequently, a second chorus was added to the organization. In addition, Chris Ferguson, then Children’s Choir Program Director of All Souls Unitarian Church, was hired as Assistant Director. In fall of 1994, the Tulsa Children’s Chorus began a two-year residence association with Tulsa Junior College’s Office of Continuing Education in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa.

In summer of 1999, the Tulsa Children’s Chorus received the distinct honor of being invited to the Des Moines International Children’s Choral Festival Creating Artistry Workshop. During this week-long event, the choir was afforded the opportunity to perform with world-renowned choirs such as Tapiola Choir, Albanian Children’s Choir, The Central Coast Children’s Choir, Guangzhou Tianhe Children’s Choir, Northwest Indiana Youth Chorus and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City.

Summer of 2000 took the Tulsa Children’s Chorus to Indiana where they participated in the 15th Annual Indianapolis Children’s Choral Festival. While there, the choir was given the opportunity to sing with nationally acclaimed children’s choirs including the St. Louis Children’s Chorus, Glen Ellyn Children’s Choir and the Toronto Children’s Chorus.

The 2005-2006 singing year marked the 15th Anniversary of the Tulsa Children’s Chorus in which several celebratory events were planned throughout the term. A piece by local composer Z. Randall Stroope entitled Jauchzet dem Herrn was commissioned for the Tulsa Children’s Chorus and performed at their spring 2006 concert. In addition, the choir produced a CD in honor of the occasion entitled 100 Voices Celebrate 100 Years. This CD includes music by composers from all time periods including Bach, Vivaldi, Schubert, Brahms, Benjamin Britten, Randall Thompson and John Rutter.

The Tulsa Children’s Chorus continues today with its mission of providing children in the Tulsa-metro area with a one-of-a-kind choral music experience under the direction of Kodaly Method expert, Ashlee Elmore, who was hired in January of 2012 as Artistic Director. During the 2013-2014 season, the choir received the distinct honor of singing the National Anthem at the Tulsa Oilers Opening Night. In December, the Tulsa Children’s Chorus joined the Tulsa Vocal Arts Ensemble for the Britten Centennial Celebration. In spring of 2014, the choir was invited to perform in the University of Arkansas Children’s Choral Festival. The choir finished the season by winning 1st Place at the Heartland Music Festival in Oklahoma City. The choir is greatly anticipating its spring 2015 trip to St. Louis, where they will collaborate and work with the esteemed St. Louis Children’s Chorus.

Sounds of the Season: A Community of Children’s Voices will take place on Friday, December 12, 2014 at 7:00 P.M. at Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa. The event is free and open to the public. More information online at www.tulsacchorus.org.