The Cathedral Choir School of Delaware, which provides music education to the children of Wilmington, sang for First Lady Laura Bush in the White House on Wednesday, 25 January, 2006, when the choir school received an award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
Cathedral Choir School, which is home to some 53 area students, ages 7-17, uses the choral arts as a magnet theme to help the young people - many of them disadvantaged - become college ready. Its after-school choir is regarded as one of Delaware's more accomplished youth choirs.
Cathedral
Choir School is one of 17 outstanding youth arts
and humanities programs to receive the 2005 Coming
Up Taller Award from Mrs. Bush. The award
was created by the President's Committee
on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH). PCAH partners
with the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS), the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA),
and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
to administer the program, which was founded in
1998. More than 250 groups were nominated to receive
the 2005 award.
"We are just thrilled that such a fine local group performing a special mission is being recognized by Mrs. Bush," said E. Norman Veasey, a choir member as a youth, an active volunteer who is chair of the Choir School's development committee, and a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware.
The Choir will be the only group that sings at the ceremony, and it will perform two songs, the National Anthem and a Zulu anthem.
Through weekly rehearsals, students at the Cathedral Choir School learn about diction, how to read music, and how to prepare a piece for performance. They sing in at least five different languages (including Swahili, French, Latin, German and English) and a repertoire of choral music that spans five centuries, proving that classics can still speak to upcoming generations.
"To see a chorister fervently singing an anthem by a composer such as Herbert Howells and then see the same chorister sing along to the latest rap hit on the radio is so rewarding," Dr. Darryl Roland, Choirmaster and Artistic Director of the Cathedral Choir School said. "This versatility means a young person is not restricted by trends, peer pressure, or a lack of education to enjoy pop culture exclusively, but is receptive, knowledgeable and appreciative of a wide variety of musical styles."
This prestigious award, as well as the honor to perform before First Lady Laura Bush, demonstrates the success of our program and the success of the choristers who dedicate countless hours."
In addition to the musical education, the Cathedral Choir School invests in its youth and encourages values, i.e. respect for diversity, accountability and teamwork, which produce future leaders in their communities. Through the Cathedral Choir School, youth are mentored at their most at-risk adolescent years and each student is appreciated for his or her unique qualities - building on self-esteem through self-control and self-discipline.
The
impact of the Cathedral Choir School on the lives
of the choristers has been tremendous, with many
crediting the School for their improved academics,
honors and achievements. Choristers in the program
have been elected class president, awarded scholarships
to private high schools and universities, and encouraged
to reach beyond their expectations.
Chorister Andrea Higgins, 14, always assumed she would attend a small community college after high school until she enrolled in the Cathedral Choir School. Now, she says, "being in Choir School has given me the confidence to think of bigger colleges, maybe even out of state.
At the Cathedral Choir School I know that there are adults who care about me and where I am headed in life."
"The recognition of this Choir, and its excellence, including its development of these young people, is a real tribute to the generosity and the gifts of the members and the friends of the Episcopal Diocese and the Cathedral Church of Saint John," added The Rt. Rev. Wayne P. Wright, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Delaware.
The Cathedral Choir School has provided musical education to children and youth of Wilmington, Delaware, and the surrounding region since 1883. Its choristers spend at least ten hours per week in choral training, free piano lessons, performance and travel. The program raises up young people who have been at risk; expects academic, social and performance excellence; and gives hope for the future.
At a special reception on Sunday, 29 January, 2006, representatives of The Mayor of the City of Wilmington and the Governor of the State of Delaware, as well as the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Wilmington. Press presented honors to the Choir.
Note: Public Relations / Research / Writing / Marketing / Media Relations Services contributed pro bono, without any reimbursement, by Sam Waltz & Associates Business & Communications Counsel to the Episcopal Diocese of Wilmington and Cathedral Choir School.
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