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MUSIC FOR A LIFETIME,
a community choral partnership, is one of the educational outreach programs
of the Masterworks Chorale. The goal of the annual program is to reach
young choral singers and inspire them to consider choral singing as a
life-long activity.
Each year the
Masterworks Chorale travels to a neighboring community to jointly present a
public choral concert with an outstanding high school choir. Each choir
performs separately for one another and then combines to sing several pieces
together. Whenever possible, the performance is followed by a reception so
singers can personally interact. A brief talk is presented during the
concert to inform the young singers and their parents about the value of
life-long choral singing.
This
year, the Masterworks Chorale will travel to O'Fallon to work with the
O'Fallon High School chorus. The performance will be on Tuesday,
October 25.
In today’s busy world
high school singers rarely have the opportunity to even hear adult choruses,
so it is no surprise that many young singers fail to envision the benefits
of continuing their musical experiences after graduation. The Chorale’s
MUSIC FOR A LIFETIME program strives to encourage singers to continue
singing throughout their college years and then participate in community,
church or professional choirs throughout their lives.
Choral singing
primarily offers singers opportunities to be inspired and uplifted by great
music written by significant composers. But it also provides opportunities
to be continually challenged and developed, to interact socially with people
from different walks of life, and to meet new and interesting people. In a
society based on multiple re-locations throughout a career, choral singers
are immediately accepted into a new support group where their musical
experiences can continue and new friendships can develop.
Chorus America,
the service organization for professional choruses, released the results of
a significant study in the spring of 2003. The first of its kind, this new
study provides the first real numbers on the impact of choral singing in
America:
·
Nearly 28.5 million adults and
children regularly perform in choral groups in the U.S.—more than any other
art form.
·
There are approximately
250,000 choruses in the U.S.—more than any other art form.
·
One or more singers in 18
percent of the households in America performed in at least one chorus in the
past year.
·
And, of that number, almost 45
percent performed with more than one chorus.
·
Almost 70 percent of the
people who sing in choruses today say they sang in a chorus when they were
in their elementary or middle school years.
The study also confirmed that choral singers
today tend to be very active in their communities in other important and
valuable ways:
·
More than three-fourths of
today’s choral singers are active in other community volunteer
groups—compared to about 44 percent for adults in the general population.
·
More than 60 percent of chorus
singers donate financially to other charities.
·
Chorus members are more than
twice as likely to read a daily newspaper or to be actively involved in
political causes than the average person.
Finally, the research reinforces the fact
that the primary motivation for choral singing is the opportunity to make
great music. To sing in a chorus requires discipline and commitment, and
the reward is the positive feedback singers get from their audiences and the
rest of the community.
Through MUSIC FOR A LIFETIME
the Masterworks Chorale strives to inform exceptional young singers about
the opportunities that are available to enhance the quality of their lives,
not for just the next few years, but for the rest of their lives.
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