It has been a little over two weeks since the inaugural San Diego Youth Choral Festival where the SDCC hosted more than 200 young singers from across the country for five days of music making and iconic San Diego experiences. This inaugural festival was a learning experience to be sure, but most importantly, participants left the festival having had a wonderful time. Choristers developed and enhanced lasting friendships as well as increased their independence and self reliance. As we already know, the act of singing in groups enhances a sense of community and belonging, and when larger groups gather like this, especially for an extended period of time, those feelings are magnified. Choir directors who participated in the festival shared:

“The singers we traveled home with were not the singers we brought. They were so much more! Your festival and the people they met and made music with changed them all for the better!”

“Thanks for an incredible week of music, fun and the reminder of what beauty we have in the world.”

“Thank you for all of your hard work! Great job in meeting the needs of our choir kids. They made some great memories!”

San Diego delivered on weather (although a few degrees warmer than we would have liked), and the festival itinerary was well received and thoroughly enjoyed. The festival took place largely at USD where students stayed in dormitories and ate in the campus cafeteria. The first two full days of the festival were a combination of rehearsals and visiting two of the most iconic destinations, the world famous San Diego Zoo, and the beach (La Jolla Shores). The final two days were performance driven, first at Balboa Park at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion where the festival group was accompanied by SDCC’s principal collaborative accompanist, Adam Ferrara (who is an accomplished organist and was the featured artist of the concert playing solo organ works  including a composition of his own), and then for the final festival concert at the new UCSD Epstein Family Amphitheater. The group also enjoyed several workshops, including the internationally ranked San Diego Chorus of Sweet Adelines (a barbershop chorus), and Afro-Cuban dancing with Omo Aché through the Center for World Music. We are incredibly grateful to each collaborative partner for providing such amazing experiences for these choristers. Both concerts featured the world premiere of a new festival commission, Voces, written by accomplished Mexican composer, Maria Granillo. 

A special shout out goes to our festival liaisons, six recent SDCC grads who came home from college to work for us during the festival as ambassadors. They were each assigned one of the visiting choirs with whom they would assist over the course of the festival. 

Our most enthusiastic acknowledgement and thank you goes to the special guest festival conductor, the incomparable Cindy Ellis, whose brilliant rehearsal technique and general energy and passion engaged every participant from the first rehearsal downbeat on Friday morning through the epic finale of the Festival Concert on Monday evening.

And finally, thank you to each of the participating youth choirs for taking a chance on this inaugural festival: Boston Children's Chorus, ChildrenSong of New Jersey, Encore Music Academy, Honors Choirs of Southeast Minnesota, Ragazzi Boys Chorus, Rainier Youth Choirs, the South Shore Children's Chorus, along with choristers from the San Diego Children’s Choir.