On November 17, 19, 20, and 21 at 7:30pm, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus (BYC)-one of the country's leading children's choruses and the ensemble of choice for orchestras and artists, from the Boston Symphony and Philip Glass to Elton John and Grizzly Bear-is prominently featured in composer Phil Kline and choreographer Wally Cardona's Really Real at BAM's Harvey Theater, as part of the 2009 Next Wave Festival. The live music in the evening-length score is comprised entirely of children's voices. Under the indefatigable leadership of BYC founder and artistic director Dianne Berkun, the kids are currently rehearsing each week, mastering Kline's close harmonies, and memorizing the texts by Kierkegaard, Johnny Cash, Cream, and The Jefferson Airplane. Cardona plans to place the choristers throughout the theater, even on stage at one point, moving with the dancers.
A few weeks later, on December 13 at 8:00pm, the BYC sings in John Adams' nativity oratorio El Niño at
Carnegie Hall, significant because the BYC is the go-to youth chorus for symphonic works, and because the chorus won its Grammy in 2005 for their Nonesuch recording of Adams' On the Transmigration of Souls. The BYC performed the New York premiere of El Niño with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen in 2003. In reviewing this performance, Anthony Tommasini wrote in The New York Times: "The Brooklyn Youth Chorus...looked as angelic as they sounded...magically captured in
Mr. Adams's subdued music."
Meanwhile, the BYC continues its vital outreach and activities in the Brooklyn community. In December alone, they are featured in five holiday events:
December 1, 5pm: MetroTech Holiday Tree Lighting in downtown Brooklyn
December 5, 7:30pm: Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum
December 6, 1:00-4:00pm: New York Public Library Holiday Open House (for NYPL members only)
December 18-19, 7:30pm: BYCA presents Holiday Harmonies featuring the Concert Chorus,
Young Men's Ensemble, Intermediate Division, and Junior Chorus.
Location: Our Lady of Lebanon Church, 113 Remsen St., Brooklyn Heights.
December 19, 12:00pm: BYCA Training Division's Winter Recital featuring the
Intermediate Division, Junior Chorus and Preparatory Division.
Location: Our Lady of Lebanon Church in Brooklyn Heights.
Later this season, on April 15, the BYC returns to
Carnegie Hall in the U.S. premiere concert version of Louis Andriessen's new opera La Commedia. And on the horizon is a major new work commissioned from rising composer Nico Muhly, supported by a grant from Meet The Composer's Commissioning Music/USA program.
All of this activity caps off a remarkable season for the BYC. In October at Radio City Music Hall the BYC perform
Ed Howard Shore's entire Oscar-winning score The Lord of the Rings live, synchronized with the film; in September they returned to Ground Zero for the 4th time to sing at the City's official 9/11 remembrance ceremony; in June they performed seven times under Maestro Loren Maazel in his farewell
New York Philharmonic concerts, singing Mahler's 8th and Britten's War Requiem; and they have been garnering raves for their role on indie band sensation Grizzly Bear's hit album, Veckatimest.
More about THE BROOKLYN YOUTH CHORUS:
"Among New York's choral groups, BYC stands alone." -
New York Magazine 6/8/09
A Brooklyn Youth Chorus kid leads an unusual life, singing with
Alicia Keys on Sesame Street one day, and a Mahler symphony with the
New York Philharmonic the next. From age 7-18, the choristers study at the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy (BYCA), the only voice-based after-school music academy in New York City. Led by Dianne Berkun, they receive a rigorous music education, unique in its adherence to Berkun's trademarked "Cross-Choral Training
TM" method, which teaches the kids to sing in a variety of styles at an exceptionally high level. This is how they prepare to sing with the
New York Philharmonic and
Elton John in the same month. And they do all this in their spare time, after a full day at their respective high schools (125 in all, covering 50 zip codes).
Continuously growing, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus is at its highest enrollment ever: 300 choristers across five choral divisions. It's come a long way since Ms. Berkun founded the BYC in 1992 with 45 kids rehearsing in a donated classroom. Today the BYC is a full-scale choral academy in its own building in Cobble Hill, acclaimed for collaborations with leading orchestras and recording artists of all genres.
The Brooklyn Youth Chorus has performed with the
New York Philharmonic under
Lorin Maazel, the Boston Symphony Orchestra under
James Levine, the American Symphony Orchestra,
Elton John,
Lou Reed,
Barbara Cook,
John Legend and
Alicia Keys, among many others. The BYCA serves its 300 students annually in five progressively advanced ensembles: the Preparatory Division (ages 7 to 9); the Junior Division (ages 8 to 13); the Intermediate Division (ages 9 to 16); the Young Men's Ensemble (voice change to 22); and the Concert Chorus (ages 11 to 18).
BYCA students reflect the city's vast economic, racial and ethnic diversity, and BYCA's scholarship program ensures access for all who wish to study.
