The Quincy Area Youth Chorus will perform their annual Spring Concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 30 in Trinity United Church of Christ, 2020 S. 24th St.
The Kinderchor, Concert Choir and Chamber choir will sing a mixture of songs from around the world including melodies from South Africa, Canada, Haiti and America.
The Kinderchor, which includes singers in grades three through six, is conducted by Jessi Sparks and accompanied by Laura Kammerer. Their performance features a variety ranging from “The Cat Came Back” to “Bring Him Home” from the musical “Les Miserables.” Other favorites include the spiritual “Soon I Will Be Done” and “Cameroon” which uses Zulu and English text.
The Concert Choir, singers in grades seven through 12, are conducted by Paul Shelor and accompanied by Mary Shelor. Their performance includes the South African freedom song, “Gabi, Gabi,” the Creole “Koudjay,” a Scots-Irish folk song, “The Parting Glass” and a French-Canadian dance “Reel a Bouche.” The Chamber Choir, made up of members of the Concert Choir, will present “Music Spread Thy Voice Around” and “The Rhodora.”
Free-will donations will be collected at the door and are greatly appreciated. Children ages 18 and under and Quincy Symphony season ticket holders will be admitted free of charge. There will be a reception at the church following the performance.
Founded in 1995, the QAYC offers vocal training and heightened appreciation of choral music to children in 3rd through 12th grades. An outreach of the Quincy Symphony Orchestra Association, QAYC supplements school and church choral training with focused preparation and performance of excellent treble chorus literature, including both secular and sacred music, appropriate for girls and boys with unchanged voices. The chorus performs fall and spring concerts, and is often asked to perform at community events or with the Quincy Symphony Orchestra. The concert choir will perform with the orchestra on April 12 at the QSO Legends Finale Concert in Morrison Theater.
Auditions for both choirs are held three times a year; the next audition will be in May. Tuition is free for students with financial need, thanks in part to the Tracy Family Foundation and the Samantha Otte Youth Opportunity Fund of the Community Foundation of the Quincy Area. Additional financial support is provided by Encore Symphony Volunteer Council, Symphony of Trees, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency through the National Endowment for the Arts. More information is available at www.qsoa.org or by calling 222-2856.
