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Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC) Announces 2014-2015 Season

Led by Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson

August 20, 2014

Renowned Choir’s 29th Season,
Entitled “Celebrating American Song...California and Beyond,”
Spotlights Music by American Composers,
Showcasing Chorus’s Remarkable Versatility

Los Angeles Children's Choir:
•    Presents World Premiere by Mark Gray in Debut at Stanford University’s Newly Opened Bing Concert Hall;
•    Performs Bach’s St. Matthews Passion with the Los Angeles Master Chorale;
•    Joins Los Angeles Philharmonic for Two Programs, Including West Coast Premiere of
     New Multi-Media Production of Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland;
•    Appears with Jacaranda and Pasadena Symphony;
•    Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Fiddler on the Roof with Wilshire Boulevard Temple;
•    Hosts Noted German Boys’ Choir Windsbacher Knabenchor;
•    Participates in Several Notable Community Programs


Los Angeles Children's Chorus (LACC), led by highly regarded Artistic Director Anne Tomlinson and acclaimed for its agile bel canto sound that has made it one of the nation’s most in-demand children’s choirs, announces its 2014-15 season, entitled “Celebrating American Song...California and Beyond.”  It spotlights the music of American composers, including several with strong California ties, among them John Adams, Philip Glass, Kirk Meechem, Terry Riley, David Montoya, Nick Strimple, Mark Grey, Wayne Brisbee, Abbie Betinis, David Brunner, Charles Ives, Brian Holmes and David Conte.  The chorus also appears in a series of high profile engagements, continuing to build upon its longtime partnerships with such leading music organizations as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Jacaranda and Pasadena Symphony. 

Further expanding its reach, LACC makes its debut at Stanford University’s recently opened Bing Concert Hall, considered one of Northern California’s most outstanding new venues, celebrates the 50th anniversary of the beloved musical Fiddler on the Roof with Los Angeles’s historic Wilshire Boulevard Temple, and hosts Windsbacher Knabenchor, Germany’s famed boys choir.  LACC, which serves children ages 6 to 18 from 50 Southland communities, is lauded as “one of the world's foremost children's choirs” (Pasadena Star News), and described as “hauntingly beautiful” (Los Angeles Times), “astonishingly polished” (Performances Magazine), “extraordinary in its abilities” (Culture Spot LA), and “one heck of a talented group of kids” (LA Weekly).



This summer, LACC returns to the Hollywood Bowl for two performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s “John Williams: Maestro of the Movies,” to sing the poignant song "Dry Your Tears, Afrika," composed and conducted by five-time Academy Award-winner John Williams, on Friday and Saturday, August 29 and 30, 2014, 8 pm.  The lyrics for the song, composed for Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed historical drama Armistad, a film about a mutiny on a slave ship bound for America, are based on the 1967 poem by French-speaking Ivorian poet Bernard Binlin Dadié and are written in Mende, a West African language spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

On Friday, October 10, 2014, LACC, in partnership with Pasadena’s Kidspace Children’s Museum, participates in ArtNight Pasadena, a free community-wide evening of art, music and entertainment presented by some of the city’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions and held in venues throughout Pasadena from 6-10 pm.  LACC presents a free performance at the museum, as well as special demonstrations of its First Experiences in Singing classes that introduce 6- and 7-year-old children to the wonders and excitement of singing and music.

Building upon its long history of presenting other children’s choirs from the U.S. and abroad, LACC hosts a choral exchange and concert with the illustrious German boys choir Windsbacher Knabenchor, with which the chorus previously participated in a workshop while touring Germany, on October 26, 2014, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.    



Reaching New Singers

For children interested in joining LACC’s ranks, open auditions for the renowned chorus take place on June 4-7, 2015, at Pasadena Presbyterian Church.  No previous training in music or singing or audition preparations are required.  Auditions for the Young Men’s Ensemble take place in mid-August.

LACC also offers its popular program First Experiences in Singing, eight- to ten-week, non-auditioned, non-performing classes that introduce six- and seven-year-old children to the wonders and excitement of singing and music.  The 45-minute weekly classes are designed to assist budding singers with vocal and musical skill development, expose them to general music and rhythmic concepts, and introduce them to bel canto singing, the vocal style for which LACC is noted. Classes are held at Pasadena Presbyterian Church each fall, spring and summer.

Graduates of Level I of First Experiences in Singing are eligible to continue to Level II and Level III classes, which are ten weeks in length.  Children completing Level III may then join LACC’s newest ensemble, First Experiences in Choral Singing, now in its fourth season.  The ensemble is designed to assist children in developing their vocal, aural, musical and choral skills in preparation for advancement to the Preparatory Choir.  The curriculum and repertoire focuses on developing the upper range of the treble voice, introducing acute listening skills, creating an awareness of musical phrasing, reading from an octavo and learning extended rehearsal decorum. The ensemble performs for parents twice a year.

This Fall, Level I classes run eight consecutive Wednesdays, from September 24 to November 12, 2014, at 4:15 pm.  Level II classes run ten consecutive Wednesdays, from September 10 to November 12, 2014, at 5:15 pm.

LACC Supporters

LACC's 2014-2015 concert season and core educational program are made possible, in part, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division.  LACC is also deeply grateful to generous lead patrons Helen and Peter Bing and the hundreds of individual, foundation and corporate donors whose dedicated support sustains the chorus’s annual choral music program for children.

For additional information on LACC, its auditions or programs, please call (626) 793-4321 or visit www.lachildrenschorus.org.