by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Do you know a child who loves to sing?
That’s been the guiding question this week at the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus as dozens of potential chorus members have been auditioning at the nonprofit arts organization’s rehearsal studio at First United Methodist Church on East Duval Street.
Founded in 1991, the JCC recently moved Downtown, much to the delight of its Artistic and Executive Director, Darren Dailey. In addition to administrative offices and rehearsal space, the church also offers what Dailey described as one of the best performance venues for choral music in North Florida. Downtown also offers a central location for rehearsals in addition to the chorus’s suburban practice sites.
Dailey has been auditioning dozens of potential new chorus members this week. The aspiring candidates are all elementary school students but JCC offers opportunities for students in grades 1-12. Almost 200 children are enrolled in JCC’s choral programs, more than 200 each year are exposed to choral music through the organization’s preschool music programs and JCC also hosts a choral festival and music educator’s workshop every February.
Dailey and his young vocalists are getting ready for their inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” concert Jan. 18 in the Robert Jacoby Symphony Hall at the Times-Union Center. The JCC will perform with the University of North Florida Chorale, the Jacksonville University Concert Choir, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Chorale, Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church Choir, Bethel Institutional Baptist Church Choir and the Ritz Chamber Players. Dailey said the goal is to make the concert an annual event and added, “This is about us trying to elevate the celebration of the King Holiday to a new level of significance and vibrancy through music.”
The JCC offers the community “extraordinary artistry through the talent and performance of the children,” Dailey said, while the children who participate in the chorus learn self-discipline and develop a sense of teamwork. Through diverse selection of material to be performed and guest artists, he added, “The kids get to experience the world.” Last season’s programs included a selection of French music, a bluegrass concert and an African children’s choir. The chorus also performed with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus as part of JSYM’s holiday program.
In addition to the King Holiday concert, another new experience for JCC members has already been written on the 2010 calendar. The group has been invited to Lincoln Center in New York City in June to showcase their work in a choral festival produced by Distinguished Concerts International. Dailey, who will be guest conductor for the performance, said it’s a great honor to be invited, but it’s not the first time JCC has hit the road for the Big Apple to participate in a choral festival.
“We were there two years ago and performed in Carnegie Hall,” he said. “We got a standing ovation, which doesn’t often happen at Carnegie Hall, and as soon as we got off the stage the producers asked if we’d like to return and perform at Lincoln Center.”
In the meantime, the chorus has openings for children of all ages who would like to learn the art of singing in a group. Dailey has been conducting dozens of auditions this week, a task made somewhat simpler by each audition’s duration.
“They’re just asked to sing, ‘Row, Row, Row Your Boat’,” he said. “If they can do that, we can teach them to sing in the chorus.”
Auditions will continue until mid-January. For more information about the organization or to schedule an audition appointment for a child who would like the opportunity to sing in the Jacksonville Children’s Chorus, visit www.jaxchildrenschorus.com.
356-2466