Music Director’s Talk
Cathedral Choir School Fundraising Breakfast Talk by Darryl Roland, Wednesday, November 10, 2010. Photo is from Summer Camp 2010, with Dr. Roland at the piano.
In a 1936 edition of the national publication, “The Witness,” the Cathedral Church of Saint John was featured as a cover story.
In addition to providing some historic information about St. John’s and its role as the Episcopal Cathedral in Delaware, the article devotes a fair amount of attention to the Choir School.
“The choir, under the direction of Paul H. Terry, is one of the largest men’s and boy’s organizations of its sort. Musically, the services of the cathedral are of the finest English type.”
The article closes by saying, “In a word, St. John’s Cathedral, Wilmington, is a live, going concern - a diocesan centre [and] city cathedral.”
The author of this article in 1936 probably couldn’t begin to imagine the changes that would occur over the next 75 years in regard to demographics, economy and culture. But I’m sure that the author would be very pleased to see how the Cathedral Choir School of Delaware has grown to meet the needs of our surrounding community and how we continue to look toward the future.
So . . . why DO we exist here at 10 Concord Avenue in the 21st century?
Well, to quote Whitney Houston, “The Children Are Our Future.” And many of our children are at-risk.
To begin with, many young people are alone and unsupervised during the hours after school before parents return home from work. Consequently, the after school hours are the peak time for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex. Lack of adult supervision for both children and adolescents also has been linked to increased likelihood of accidents, injuries, lower social competence, lower GPAs, and lower achievement test scores.
In addition, we’re learning what creates the biggest divide in education between rich and poor students. According to research undertaken by Johns Hopkins University, wealthy students are exposed to environments of continued learning during after school hours and summer breaks while poor students are not afforded these opportunities. Consequently, underserved students tend to lag behind and may even forget information and skills that they’ve learned.
At this point, you may be thinking “O.K., but isn’t this a choir program? How does a choir program address the many challenges of our young people today.
Well, let me tell you.
The Cathedral Choir School is here to provide an environment of continued learning that all student so desperately need. The three major components of the Choir School, academic mentoring and tutoring, piano study, and a rich program of vocal training and performance, help students to choose productive behavior and gain skills for success in life.
Evaluations collected from our participating families have demonstrated that our students become more self-confident, are better able to express their feelings, have improved attitudes toward learning, do better academically, take more initiatives, and are more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college. In fact, 100 % of our students who continue to participate in the Choir School through high school graduation have entered college. Many of these students also have received partial or full scholarships.
All of these important services are provided along with the exceptional music training that was established 127 years ago when the choir was first organized in 1883. Choristers continue to sing for weekly liturgies here at the Cathedral during the academic year and participate in other professional performing venues. Major choir tours have included Southwest England and New York City. And this coming summer, we’ve been invited to be a resident choir at the Washington National Cathedral.
Our commitment to high musical standards and formation of spirit, character and intellect have drawn national attention to our program.
As many of you already know, we sang at the White House and received the Coming Up Taller Award, our nation’s highest honor bestowed on after-school programs in the arts and humanities.
Through the collective efforts of many, and especially the generous support of donors, we now have a record number of participating students, singers and volunteers. For example, more than 50 mentors, tutors and homework helpers are making a huge difference so that our students are not falling through the cracks but are in fact improving their grades and in many cases getting on the Honor Roll.
But now is not the time to rest on our laurels.
Through our collective efforts we can work toward providing additional children and youth with more equitable opportunities - doing our part in closing the achievement gap for underserved students.
But how do we do this? To answer this question we embarked on a year-long process that included feasibility studies as well as input from educators and fifty community leaders. Although we initially considered expanding our current program into a full day school, the overwhelming response from everyone confirmed that we currently have an incredible after-school program and that the best way to grow is by recruiting more students, more volunteer mentors and after-school staff. In addition, we need to develop a summer component that will provide students with enrichment activities that will give them a competitive edge in their academic and musical studies for the new academic year. We also aspire to recruit a more diverse corps of volunteers by engaging young professionals in the business community as well as people of color.
And finally, we want more people in Wilmington and the surrounding region to know about our work, so that the Cathedral Choir School can become a household name.
That is why we have established a partnership with John Hawkins and his marketing company Aloysius, Butler & Clark, also known as “AB&C.” Because it’s sometimes difficult to see the frame when you’re inside the picture, it helps to have a third-party viewpoint, as we did with AB&C.
They evaluated the research we had conducted and developed a strategy for taking the Cathedral Choir School forward that included a new visual identity [as seen here]. Our name “Cathedral Choir School” already tells people that we’re about choral music. We need now to tell a more balanced story of how tutoring and mentoring also feed the success of our program.
The new theme line is “Harmonizing Life and Learning.” It brings mentoring and tutoring to the table, but also alludes to the music component. And what does the new logo look like? Well, let me just show you!
Our new logo consists of visual elements – four shapes that spell “CCS.” The shapes also convey Community, Nurturing, Protecting and Family. The new logo is respectful, yet current and more importantly forward-looking. And it reflects the values that drive the Cathedral Choir School toward its goals.
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Choir School provides support system for vulnerable children.
Learn how the the Cathedral Choir School of Delaware makes differences in children's lives.
