Mastersingers Announce New Youth Choirs, Summer Camp

The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers is proud to announce the Fall 2018 expansion of its Mastersingers Youth [MY] program, and the 4th Annual Choir Camp for youth in the Tri-Cities area.

The success of the Mid-Columbia Boys’ Choir since its inception in 2014 has propelled its directors to create three new youth choirs for boys and girls in grades 4-12. The existing Boys’ Choir will now be one of four non-auditioned youth choirs in the MY program, adding the Mid-Columbia Girls’ Choir, Mid-Columbia Young Men’s Choir, and Mid-Columbia Young Women’s Choir. The expansion into multiple youth choir groups will allow MY Directors to focus on the unique needs of each group.

In August, MY will host Choir Camp at Columbia Basin College from 8:30-11am from Tue. August 14 through Fri. August 17. Campers will sing the national anthem at Gesa Stadium for the Tri-City Dust Devils game on Saturday, August 18.

The 2018-19 choir season will consist of two 4-month sessions: Sept-Jan and Feb-May. MY is committed to accessibility, and offers an established, need-based financial aid program to ensure than any child who wants to sing in a MY Choir has the opportunity to do so.

Mastersingers Youth is led by Directors JoLyn Glenn and Kurtis McFadden, both choir teachers for Pasco School District, at Chiawana High School and McLoughlin Middle School respectively. Glenn will lead the Mid-Columbia Young Women’s Choir for girls in grades 8-12, while McFadden leads the Mid-Columbia Young Men’s Choir for boys in grades 7-12 whose voices have begun to change. Two newly hired Associate Directors will lead the younger groups; Scott Wagnon, choir teacher at Kamiakan High School, will take over the Mid-Columbia Boys’ Choir. The Mid-Columbia Girls’ Choir will be led by community choir director Marianne Larsen.

Participants will have the opportunity to perform in a wide array of venues, sing a variety of musical styles, and share the stage often with the seasoned musicians of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers adult choirs as well as other local groups like the Mid-Columbia Symphony and Mid-Columbia Ballet. Students who sing in choir outperform non-arts peers on the SATs and show a 20 percent increase in test scores in both language and math. By singing in choir, students learn to analyze problems, and to solve them in collaboration with colleagues to achieve a common goal.
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Registration for both Choir Camp and the 2018-2019 Choir Season is available at www.MCMastersingers.org.