-----------------------------------------------------------The Children’s Chorus of Carroll County is a 501( C ) 3 organization,
-----------------------------------------------------------The Directors
Diane Jones is a co-founder of the Chorus and has served as
co-director and accompanist in addition to her current role as Artistic
Director. She has an MLA from Western Maryland College and a BME from
Houghton College, Houghton, NY. Her professional experience includes
twenty-five years in music education at both the high school and
elementary levels in New York State and Maryland. Presently, Mrs. Jones
is adjunct music education faculty at McDaniel College and maintains a
private piano studio. She is a member of ACDA, CCMTA, and MTNA and
enjoys a variety of collaborative musical experiences as an
accompanist, pianist, choral adjudicator and choral director. Under her
leadership, Voce Viaggio, the traveling choir, has performed in
Estonia, Finland, and Sweden (2004) and participated in the “12th
International Children’s Choir Festival” in
Oxford, Canterbury, and London (2008). She and three Chorus members
participated in the 2009 Estonian Song Festival in July of that year.
Her responsibilities include oversight of the Children’s
Chorus organization and directing both Cantare Bel Canto and Voce
Viaggio..
Diana Greene
Diana Greene is an active performer, accompanist, and music instructor with expertise in piano instruction and early childhood music. She is a certified Musikgarten® instructor and holds Level 2 certification from the Early Childhood Music and Movement Association. In April of 2005, she received the Musikgarten Achievement Award for outstanding Musikgarten educational achievements and in 2006 received the Musikgarten Exemplary Program Award. Mrs. Greene is also the primary grades music instructor at Gerstell Academy. She has a Master of Music degree in Piano Performance from The University of North Texas and a Bachelor of Music degree from Wheaton College. In addition, Mrs Greene is an active chamber music player and accompanist and maintains a private piano studio in Westminster. Mrs. Greene is the Director of the Music Maker Program. In the 2009-2010 Season, she will instruct Music Maker I and Les Petites Voix. She also serves as the Chorus’ accompanist.
Julie Hollenberg is the director of the Della Bella's. She received her BA degree in music education from Bridgewater College, and a Master of Music degree from James Madison University. She earned her Orff/Dalcroze/ Kodaly Certification from Towson University, and recently completed the rigorous and highly competitive process of becoming a National Board Certified Teacher. Ms. Hollenberg is currently the choral music instructor at Westminster High after a highly successful career at Hampstead Elementary.
Pat Carmody works with the Music Maker II class and is the assistant to Artistic Director, Diane Jones. Mrs. Carmody received her Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Education with a Kodàly Emphasis from Catholic University of America. She presently works part time for the Lucy School, an arts based school in Middletown, MD. She retired from Prince George’s Public Schools in July, 2008. While working in P.G. County, she was the Choral Director at Thomas Pullen School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Honors Chorus Director, and Arts Integration Coordinator. Her choruses received superior ratings at county, state, and regional adjudicated festivals.
Children's Chorus of Carroll County (cccc) was
started in 1986 by Idalea Rubin and Diane Jones. Teaching
elementary school music in Carroll County made them aware of a need for
a community based organization that would provide a standard of
excellence in choral music for children with unchanged voices. The
organization has grown from one chorus to choruses of different age
levels with members from throughout Carroll County. Music Makers I: 5:00
- 5:45pm
Tuesday evening rehearsal details:
Music Makers II: 6:00 - 6:45pm
Les Petites Voix (LPV): 6:00 - 7:00pm
Il Choro Della Bella Voce (DB's): 5:45 - 6:45pm
Cantare Bel Canto (BC's): 7:00 - 8:30pm
Music Makers I
Based on the well-respected Musikgarten© curriculum, this fun,
interactive program builds language abilities, increases coordination
and motor skills, enhances listening, fine tunes impulse control, and
develops memory while establishing a solid musical foundation for the
rest of the child's life. Music Makers are five, six, and seven year
olds. There is no performance expectation.
Music Makers II
Also based on the Musikgarten© curriculum, this program continues to
develop and fine tune the skills achieved in Music Makers I. Children
will build on existing vocal skills and sharpen their kinesthetic and
aural abilities with songs and dances from around the world. In
addition, music reading begins with simple rhythmic and tonal patterns.
Music Makers II are in first and second grade or have completed Music
Makers I. There is no performance expectation.
Les Petites Voix
Second and third grade students possess genuine music ability which is
developed in many ways through rehearsals and performances. The goals
of Music Makers are expanded, basics of musicianship and music reading
are developed and the excitement and joy of performance is introduced.
No previous formal music instruction is necessary. Weekly rehearsals
are one hour long with approximately three extra Saturday rehearsals
during the year. Les Petites Voix perform in the winter and spring
celebration concerts.
Il Choro Della Bella Voce
Choristers in grades four and five exude the spontaneity and energy of
younger singers, but a higher skill level enables them to engage in
music at a more advanced level. Basic musicianship skills are taught
within the context of choral music. Repertoire includes canons,
descants, unison and two-part pieces, accompanied and unaccompanied in
English and other languages. Weekly rehearsals are one hour long with
approximately three extra Saturday rehearsals during the year. Della
Bella's perform locally in a variety of venues and participate in the
winter and spring celebration concerts.
Cantare Bel Canto
Designed to provide challenge and opportunity necessary to meet the
artistic potential and developmental needs of choristers in grades six
through high school, the Bel Canto repertoire and schedule is more
personally demanding than the other choruses. Pieces include unison
through four-part treble, accompanied and unaccompanied in English and
other languages. Weekly rehearsals are between one and a half and two
hours long with approximately three extra Saturday rehearsals during
the year. In addition to local performances, Bel Canto's enjoy travel
opportunities. Annually, the group participates in an adjudicated
choral event such as the Heritage Festivals (New York City, 2002,
Philadelphia, 2004), Paramount King's Dominion Choral Festival (King's
Dominion, 2003), Music Maestro, Please ( New York City, 2005): Six
Flags America (Washington, DC, 2006).
Voce Viaggio
This select group of 24 to 30 singers frequently serves as ambassadors
for the entire Chorus. A more rigorous rehearsal and performance
schedule combined with a wide musical spectrum offers VV members a more
in-depth experience than can be achieved otherwise. In 2004,Voce
Viaggio traveled to Finland, Sweden and Estonia, representing
Westminster and the United States in Estonia as an extension of the
Westminster, Maryland/ Paide, Estonia Partner City Program.
cccc presents two major annual concerts and is also involved
in other concerts and musical collaborations. The Chorus has joined
forces with the Peabody Children's Chorus and Peabody Strings, The
Johns Hopkins Chorus and Orchestra, The Georgetown University Chorus
and Orchestra, Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County, McDaniel College
Choir, Old Line Statesmen Barbershop Quartet and Chorus, Estonian
Television Girls Choir, Blue Ridge Brass Quintet, Westminster Ringers,
and the Paide Girls Choir (Estonia). Our singers are regularly
showcased at the Big Band Merry Christmas Concert. The Chorus has
joined Masterworks Chorale and the Westminster Ballet Theater in a
stellar production of Orff's Carmina Burana. Recent
highlights of the two younger groups of our chorus were performances at
Hershey Park Candy Lane, the Washington, D.C. Mormon Tabernacle
Visitors Center, Port Discovery in Baltimore. Bel Canto highlights
include performances at the White House Candlelight Tours, Carnegie
Hall and the Riverside Church in New York. Each spring the Bel Cantos
participate in an adjudicated event. In May of 2003 they were awarded a
Superior Rating at the Paramount King's Dominion Choral Festival. In
May of 2004, the Bel Cantos went to Philadelphia to participate in the
Heritage Children's Choir Festival, receiving an adjudication rating of
excellent. May of 2005 found the group in once again in New York City
participating in a "Music Maestro, Please" festival where they earned a
Superior rating. In April 2006 the Bel Canto's went to Six Flags
America in Washington, DC and earned two trophies: one for a superior
performance and one for Best in Category. In 2007 they received an
Excellent rating in Music in the Parks at Busch Gardens, VA.
The Estonian Connection The City of
Westminster has enjoyed outstanding participation in the
Estonia-Maryland partnership which was established in the early1990's.
The cultural exchange piece in Westminster was initiated in 2003 when
the Children's Chorus presented the Estonian Television Girls Choir in
concert. The following year, Voce Viaggio traveled
to Finland, Estonia and Sweden, spending eleven days representing the
City of Westminster and the State of Maryland. The Chorus hosted Sirjelind,
the Paide Girls' Choir, from June 24 through July 1, 2005. Both choirs
traveled and performed together in Baltimore, Annapolis, Ocean City and
Westminster. The culminating experience was the June 30th Gala
International Concert with the Carroll Festival Chorus, Sirjelind
and Voce Viaggio.
The Chorus, Masterworks Chorale
of Carroll County and the McDaniel College Choir combined forces in
commissioning "Journeys to Freedom: Rännakud Vabadusse," a work for
three choirs and instrumental ensemble by Rebecca Oswald. The quest for
freedom was dramatically chronicled through the folk songs of both
Estonia and the United States. Late June 2009, Haley Austin, Emily
Ehrgott, Kristen Luther, and Diane Jones, participated in the 140th
Song Festival, Tallinn, Estonia, as members of the Paide Girls’ Choir.
This venture was not a chorus sponsored event, but would have been
impossible without the history we have enjoyed with our wonderful
Nordic friends! This collaboration has not only been a rich source of
musical growth, it has opened the door to ongoing international
friendship and understanding. .
Integrated into the fiber of the Chorus is a commitment to involving our members in the greater music picture of the community. To that end we have established a long-term collaboration with Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County, McDaniel College and Old Line Statesmen Barbershop Quartet and Chorus. Other performances partners have been Westminster Ringers, the Peabody Children's Chorus, , Estonian Television Girls Choir, Blue Ridge Brass Quintet, and the Paide Girls Choir (Estonia). Our singers are regularly showcased at the Big Band Merry Christmas Concert and in 2006, joined Masterworks Chorale and the Westminster Ballet Theater in a stellar production of Orff's Carmina Burana. The Chorus is committed to supplementing the repertoire of quality choral music for children.
The
following pieces have been commissioned by Children’s Chorus of Carroll
County, thereby enriching the choral music available for unchanged
voices:
“Te Deum” by Richard Eichman
“Hippopotamathalium” by D.J. Sparr
“The Letter” and ”Wesley Church” by Dr.
Larry Harris.
“The Journey to Ithaca” by Garth Baxter
“And Death Shall Have No Dominion” by
Garth Baxter
“Songs of Life” by Garth Baxter
“Carroll Canons” (for band and chorus)
by Dr. D.J. Sparr and Henry Ditman
“Journeys to Freedom: Rännakud
Vabadusse” by Rebecca Oswald
updated August
19, 2009