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Bring Kids Together in Song

Tax deductible
We are changing the face of choir, and we need your help.

VocalEssence believes that singing together can unite our community. This year, 50 high school students from urban high schools in Minneapolis and Saint Paul will come together to form a new choir.  But these are not your typical choir students and this is not your typical choir.

This choir will sing, dance, write its own music, rap, and—most importantly—reflect the diversity of our community in its membership.  

To make the choir free for all members to participate, we need your help. Your support will help fund transportation and hot meals for the students at rehearsal.

Our star-studded cast of artists involved in the choir will include:
*VocalEssence Associate Conductor G. Phillip Shoultz, III
*Filipina-American rapper and hip-hop artist Dessa
*Emmy award-winning actor and VocalEssence WITNESS artist T. Mychael Rambo
*McKnight Artist Fellow and MN Sage Award winning dancer/choreographer Roxane Wallace
*Verve-winning spoken word-artist/arts educator Chadwick “Niles” Phillips

Rehearsals begin on Monday, October 30 at Orchestra Hall and run through June 4, 2018. Other rehearsal and performance venues include Augsburg University and The Ordway.

Why invest in a choir? It's the smart thing to do. While studies have shown that singing in a choir boosts brain development and builds critical thinking skills, schools across Minnesota have been cutting choir programs left and right (especially in urban districts).

This is the first of its kind anywhere, and we need your help to make it a reality.
 "When we sing these songs, it brings us together to form this great unity through our diversity," said one student from Johnson Senior High School in Saint Paul. "This is an event that we are going to remember for the rest of our lives."

Help us unite our community in song, and change the face of choir in our community.

Funds for the remainder of the pilot year of the VocalEssence Youth Choir (official name for the choir will be chosen by the students) are provided by a Minnesota State Arts Board Arts Learning Grant.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Katrina Wallmeyer
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Vocalessence
Beneficiary

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