Performing Department Overview
Overview
The Performing Department is structured into five choirs. Concert Choir (our domestic touring choir) and Ensemble (our international touring choir) are co-ed treble choirs. Ecco enrolls young men with changed voices and young women who have completed ninth grade or above. Cantoria is a chamber subset of Ecco that performs SATB music. Ancora is an elite young women's choir.
Entry to the Performing Department
After advancing through the training level, children who are talented singers with a strong commitment to skill development may audition for entrance into the Performing Department choirs. [Students with substantial outside singing experience may audition to enter into the upper-level choirs without going through our training program first.] Once admitted to the Performing Department, subsequent promotion is based on demonstrated skill, vocal development, and commitment to the Choirs, as demonstrated through exemplary attendance, attitude, and behavior.
Summer Choir Camp
For Concert Choir and Ensemble, the choir year begins with the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir's annual summer camp. Each August, over the course of 10-14 days, members of these two choirs have daily music theory lessons, and spend up to four hours of rehearsal each day building repertoire for the coming season. Voice lessons, in-depth training in music theory and sight-reading, and daily performance opportunities are all built into the curriculum. Outside of rehearsal, campers have a choice of traditional camp activities like swimming, casual team sports like soccer and softball, and arts and crafts. Camp is also a time to build friendships, and the positive energy and spirit of enjoyment of the overall camp experience is amply reflected in the many photos students share with family and friends each summer.
The camp staff consists of top singers and teachers from the Bay Area and beyond, present and former members of the Choir's year-round faculty, and alumni of the Choir who have gone on to study music at the college or conservatory level.
Attendance at camp is mandatory for all members of Concert Choir and Ensemble, including newly promoted members. ECCO has their own camp session, optional but highly recommended (and enjoyed). Many of those students with exceptional musical ability, and who particularly enjoyed the camp experience, return as Counselors and Counselors in Training (CITs) for the younger students.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals for all levels are held in rented facilities in Piedmont. Parents typically drop their children off and return for them at the conclusion of rehearsal, though family members are welcome to observe rehearsal, on consent of the Conductor, if they so wish. Some singers come and go via public transportation, and carpooling, facilitated through the choir office, is common. Two of our Performing Department groups, Ensemble and Concert Choir, meet twice a week for two hours. The remaining groups rehearse once a week, for anywhere from two to three-plus hours. A typical rehearsal begins with group warm-ups tied to the music being taught and whatever aspects of vocal pedagogy are currently being stressed. Full group singing is often augmented with “sectional” work, during which the conductor focuses on a specific subsection of the larger chorus, giving attention to individual voices as needed. From time to time, work on specific pieces may be punctuated by discussions or music theory or music history, again tied to the music or the current curriculum.
Curriculum
Helping each child to learn and grow as an individual is central to our educational program. Our formal curriculum, designed by Artistic Director Robert Geary, stresses healthy vocal production, including such elements as posture, breath control and support, registration, freedom of sound, resonance, and uniformity of vowel colors. Beyond this, each level has its own set of objectives that guide conductors’ work with their groups. Students and families are apprised of individual progress via personalized evaluations that are sent home at the conclusion of each semester.
Concerts
Public concerts are the centerpiece of the Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir experience. Performing Division members have an unparalleled opportunity to share their art and accomplishments throughout the year via concerts given in every imaginable venue, for a myriad of audience types. Please see the current concert calendar, as well as each group’s specific section for information on the anticipated performance schedule.
Touring
Members of Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir have traveled on tour with the Choir every year since 1984. Touring is an important factor in the musical, cultural, and social development that Performing Division members experience during their tenure with the Choirs. Tour is usually the culmination of the choir season.
Each year Performing Division faculty members seek out high level educational and performance opportunities for tours. Tour destinations are selected primarily on the basis of their potential for providing enriching musical experiences and secondarily for their cultural and geographical interest. While on tour, singers may participate in music festivals, community concerts, and cultural and recreational activities. Performing Division choirs have consistently won honors and prizes for their performances at choral music festivals and competitions at home and abroad, and they have been selected to perform for the most discerning audiences. Click here for a selected list of previous tours.
Ensemble generally undertakes a major, 10-14 day international tour each June or July. Concert Choir takes a domestic tour of 4-7 days in late spring or early summer. For many Concert Choir members and families, the short tour is good preparation for the longer Ensemble tour. Given their busy high school schedules, members of ECCO, Cantoria and Ancora tour only occasionally.
When Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir groups travel, our singers are often hosted (or given a “homestay,” in choir lingo) by the families of the choirs we are visiting. Piedmont East Bay Children's Choir families often reciprocate this hospitality when out-of-town or foreign choirs travel to the Bay Area. Singers are generally assigned to a homestay in groups of two or more. Both staff and parent chaperones accompany the choirs on tour. For extended tours, one of the adult chaperones selected is generally a medical professional (physician, nurse, or EMT). Besides allowing students an unparalleled opportunity to make new friends and experience other cultures, homestays also enable the Choir to keep tour costs manageable.
Retreats
ECCO and Ancora enjoy weekend retreats each fall. The ECCO retreat is a one-day whirlwind adventure of intense rehearsal and recreation, usually held in San Francisco to take advantage of its wonderful cultural opportunities. A weekend “Ancora only” retreat is also scheduled for fall. Retreats provide an opportunity for members to bond and build friendships as well as prepare repertoire for the season.
Singers from ECCO and Ancora also join with teenagers from other local high school programs at the Volti Choral Institute each October and January. The Institute features intensive rehearsal sessions and small group voice lessons. Students and professionals alike benefit from the challenging side-by-side rehearsal environment, and there are plenty of opportunities for mixing and socializing.
Training Department: | Performing Department PD Overview |