ShawneeDispatch.com

Shawnee played host earlier this month to a concert for a growing area children’s choir that’s beginning to make its stamp on the world.

The Nov. 2 concert was the annual Fall Benefit Concert for Allegro Community Children’s Choir at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Johnson Drive and Monticello Road. Proceeds from the event benefited a children’s choir from the Czech Republic, and Shawnee members of the choir said the experience is helping them learn about much more than just singing.

“I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve learned also, because our theme is striving for excellence, if you learn to be excellent, it kind of affects everything in your life,” Chloe Stewart said.

Since its creation in 2000, the Allegro Community Children’s Choir has grown from one choir of 38 to three choirs with more than 150 singers from grades three through 12, representing many schools from the entire Kansas City Metro area. The choir’s offices are based in Bonner Springs.

The younger children make up Allegro Poco, which means “little,” while the older singers are put in Allegro con Moto, or “with motion,” and the more advanced Allegro con Brio, or “with zest.”

In addition to Stewart, who is in the Moto choir, Shawnee members of the choir include Erin Stout and Makena Jarboe, also Motos; Ryan Stout, Nate Ybarra and Julia Wheeler, who are Pocos; and Maddie Miguel and Jessica Woods, who are Brios.

Chloe and Erin have each been in the choir for three years, while Makena has been in the choir for two years. All had done some singing in their school choirs at Mill Creek and Lexington Trails middle schools before joining — Chloe had also had a few voice lessons.

Though members of the choir come from all over the Kansas City area, Chloe, Erin and Makenna said it has been an interesting experience.

“It’s fun to hang out with lots of people that have the same interest as you,” Chloe said.

Members of the choir must try out to join, and it is required that members spend at least one year as a Moto before becoming a Brio. The choir’s goals are to introduce the singers to musical history, vocal pedagogy, theory and performance while stressing the importance of self-confidence, teamwork, responsibility, community service and discipline.

The choir also has given the girls experience singing in other languages and in front of large crowds.

“I’ve learned a lot from our school choir, too, but this really is different from school choir,” Makenna said.

“We had one performance and there was, like, 900 people there, and it was a little nerve-wracking,” Chloe added.

“But it’s fun to perform,” Makenna said. “When I come from school choir to this, I work harder at this and I know I sound way better.”

Theresa Stewart, Chloe’s mother, said most choir members learn about the choir through a vocal teacher or word of mouth. Stewart praised Christy Elsner, Allegro founder and director, for all that she does for the choir members.

“I think she just does a beautiful job, what she pulls out of these girls,” Stewart said. “(Chloe) has learned so much — from singing their vowels to foreign languages.”

Traveling as a choir is another part of being in the group. Poco and Moto singers travel regionally, most recently singing in Arkansas, and every three to four years, Brio singers take an international trip.

Both Chloe and Makena said their goal is to move up to the Brio choir and go on the next international, which likely will take place in their senior year of high school.

Erin, however, already is headed on a trip. Her family will move to Africa for three years next year for her father’s job, and because of her experience in Allegro, she already has looked into joining a children’s community choir in Africa.

The theme for the choir’s ninth season is “Love, Hope, Peace… Changing Lives With Song.” Proceeds from Sunday’s concert will benefit Medvidata Children’s Choir of Cesky`Krumlov in Czech Republic, a choir the Brio singers met on their June 2008 trip to Austria.

Allegro singers learned that the 180 Medvidata singers, ages 6 to 18, have to write the songs they sing on butcher paper to make copies, and the Allegro members wanted to use the money raised at Sunday’s concert to purchase singing material for Medvidata.

“Our choir chose to dedicate our annual benefit concert to them to provide them with better resources that we often take for granted,” Elsner said.

The choir has one other concert this year, Dec. 7 in Kansas City, Mo. For more information about Allegro, go to allegrocc.org.

Comments