Young People’s Chorus at Thurnauer Makes Beautiful Music at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades [dedicated]

You aren’t looking for just any activity for your kid to do after school. You’re looking for the unicorn of after school activities. You want the one your kid will love to go to, where they learn something, feel accomplished, experience other cultures and figure out how to get along with a diverse group of people. Bonus points for doing something that brings joy to other people. But unicorns don’t exist, right? Wrong. The activity you seek is the Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer School of Music at Kaplen JCC on the Palisades.

The Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer (YPC@T) is an affiliate of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and shares the mission of bringing together children of diverse backgrounds, providing them with a choral experience that includes challenging choral music, cultural understanding and friendship. 

Started in the fall of 2009 with just 8 members, the YPC@T has grown to include over 160 members today. This community based chorus actively seeks out diverse populations and unites them through their love of singing. The Chorus sings a variety of musical genres from a diversity of cultural sources including new choral works, opera, gospel, classical and pop music. So your singer will be exposed to works to which they would normally not have access. To assist with these performances, the YPC@T brings in accompanists and percussionists who not only aid in learning the music but who also help the singers learn to “tell the story of the music”. Students and teachers alike find a shared passion in learning and sharing music from their own and other cultures. 

Kids who are part of the YPC@T have frequent opportunities to perform (which might keep them from getting all dramatic about broccoli once they get home). The chorus performs 15-20 times a year at competitions, choir festivals, colleges, local community events and at the JCC. Past venues have included the 92ndStreet Y, Carnegie Hall, bergenPAC and the Prudential Center. The pieces they perform are challenging and complex and require attention, commitment and a high level of artistry. 

The Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer is actively seeking vocalists aged 6 - 18 who are interested in joining this diverse music community. Audition requirements are simply that students be able to match pitch and sing “Happy Birthday” in tune. For more information or to schedule an audition, please contact Emma Brondolo, Artistic Director of the Young People’s Chorus @ Thurnauer at 201.569-7900 x230 or ebrondolo@jccotp.org.