NYC Announces Registration for its 09-10 Season

Northfield Youth Choirs (NYC) announces registration days for its 09-10 concert season as well as its Encore/What a Character music camp. Registration for the regular NYC season will be held on Tues., June 23rd, and Tues., Aug. 4th, from 4 to 7 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church (500 3rd St. W.) in Northfield. No appointment is necessary. Returning members and those simply interested in learning more about NYC are invited to attend. Registration for NYC’s Encore/What a Character music camp is possible by mail or by attending NYC’s June 23rd registration event.

NYC members enjoy weekly one-hour rehearsals, twice-yearly retreats, area performances and tours (grades 5 and older). The organization’s choirs are divided by age, and singers of all levels of experience in grades 1-12 are welcome to participate.

This summer, NYC’s Encore Music Camp is teaming up with the Northfield Arts Guild’s “What a Character” theater workshop for a week-long musical theater experience. In addition to vocal training, young performers will build skills in dance, movement, stage presence and character development–both onstage and off. Rehearsals and activities are led by artistic staff members Liz Shepley, Jana Schomburg and Rachel Haider. Space is still available in Encore Session 2, for singers entering grades 5 - 12.

Scholarships are available for both the regular concert season and Encore summer sessions. For more information, and to download registration materials, visit www.northfieldyouthchoirs.org

Partnership Trains Young Conductors

Our Troubadours boys choir is led by St. Olaf Choir conductor Anton Armstrong, who is assisted by a conducting intern each year. Read about the NYC’s long-standing collaboration with the St. Olaf College music department in the Spring ‘09 issue of St. Olaf Magazine.

Spring Concert to Feature Harpists

The Northfield Youth Choirs will perform their spring concert, “Where Miracles Hide” on Sunday, May 3rd at 6 p.m. in St. Olaf College’s Boe Memorial Chapel. The concert features a premiere for harp and children’s choir, composed by Phala Tracy and commissioned by the NYC in honor of Northfield harpist Elinor Niemisto. Admission to the concert is free; a free will offering will be collected.

“We’re so pleased to have a special way to thank Elinor for her contributions to the Northfield Youth Choirs,” says Artistic Director Elizabeth Shepley. “She’s been a great friend to the organization and accompanied us on so many occasions over the years.”

The concert’s theme, “Where Miracles Hide,” comes from the text of “Tiger Swallowtail,” the piece composed by Phala Tracy. Tracy, a performer and composer, lives and works in Minneapolis, where she teaches harp at the MacPhail Center for Music and Gustavus Adolphus College.

Elinor Niemisto has been a regular accompanist for the youth choirs for more than 20 years and will accompany the choir on the piece commissioned in her honor. Niemisto, who currently holds endowed chairs in both the Rochester and La Crosse Symphony Orchestras, teaches harp at Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges and Suzuki Harp in Northfield and Owatonna.

NYC Summer Offerings

This summer, Encore! Music Camp is teaming up with the Northfield Arts Guild’s “What a Character!” theater workshop to bring you a week-long experience in musical theater fun! What can participants expect? A supportive atmosphere for developing as performers and expressive, confident individuals. In addition to vocal training, young performers will build skills in dance, movement, stage presence and character development–both onstage and off. The end result is an actual show…and everyone gets a part! Rehearsals and activities are led by artistic staff members Liz Shepley, Jana Schomburg and Rachel Haider. For details and registration forms, see our Encore! information page

Join us for our 09-10 concert season!

Mark your calendars and plan to attend one of our upcoming registration/choir placement events for our 09-10 choral season, held from 4 to 7 pm at St. John’s Lutheran Church:

• Mon., May 11th
• Tues., June 23rd
• Tues., Aug. 4th

Scholarships are available and all singers are welcome, regardless of previous choral experience. Register on May 11 and save $15 on each singer’s tuition! Please note that a $15 late fee will be charged for registrations received after our final registration event on Aug. 4th. See our registration page for more information and registration forms.