Chicago Children's Choir

The 1999-2000 season's Beverly Neighborhood Choir in concert.

Photo: Jay Jones

In 1956, the late Christopher Moore's recruitment of African-American youngsters into the First Unitarian Church's children's choir in the integrated, relatively affluent Hyde Park neighborhood was viewed as a daring endeavor. It has proved to be an enduring and transforming one for thousands of Chicago children.

Today Moore's choir, "built on the extraordinary talents of kids whose way into the mainstream will be their vocal prowess and the experiences and relationships that it opens up for them," has grown into America's largest, most comprehensive choral-music training program for young people. The Choir provides tuition-free introductory music training by visiting conductors in 40 Chicago schools, more advanced training in its four after-school choirs in the neighborhoods of Hyde Park, DePaul, Rogers Park, and Beverly/Morgan Park, and, for accomplished singers, it offers the internationally acclaimed Concert Choir.

In the after-school choirs, where young people of every imaginable racial, cultural, and economic background come together two hours twice a week from September through May, students work on music theory, vocal training, and performance skills that prepare them for several public concerts every year. Each neighborhood choir has its own parents' organization which meets regularly with the conductor and staff to plan programs, tours, and fundraising events. The most proficient musicians may join the Concert Choir for more intensive training, international touring experience, and the opportunity to mentor the younger singers. Some stay with the Choir family for 10 years; virtually all go on to college.

For many young people, participation in the Chicago Children's Choir begins with the music but becomes about much more. In the process of learning and making music together, these young people are also learning racial and cultural understanding, cooperation and social skills, and they are making positive personal choices: to grow emotionally, academically, and humanly, as well as musically.

To help ensure this growth, the Chicago Children's Choir has initiated staff and conductor training in the issues and real-world situations these young people face. "We like to think of the Choir as a symbol of hope for children and society," says Executive Director Nancy Carstedt. "We can all get along and create something beautiful together."