Evergreen Children's Chorale

Background Statement

The Evergreen Children's Chorale formed in 1991 in response to a need in the mountain area for a high-quality music performance ensemble specifically designed for children. Each year ECC accepts up to 45 children in 4th through 8th grades. Members come from public, private, & home school settings and represent 22 different schools from Bailey, Pine, Conifer, Evergreen, Golden, Idaho Springs, Morrison, Littleton, Arvada, and others. ECC's development group, Prelude, was formed in September, 1997, as an ensemble designed to prepare young voices for the rigorous demands and expectations of ECC. It maintains membership around 30 children in 2nd through 4 grades.

Since its inception, the ECC has provided over 600 different performance opportunities for 750+ children. Each year, both the ECC and Prelude perform a choral concert in the fall and a fully staged musical in the spring. Past performances of the ECC have included Alice in Wonderland, Beauty & the Beast, Annie, Once Upon a Mattress, Oliver, Wizard of Ox, Cinderella, Mulan Jr, Seussical Jr, Godspell Jr. and others. In concerts, children present choreography, narration, and accompany each other during a formal choral performance. The ECC has also performed as the children's ensembles for major works including as Carmina Burana, La Fiesta de la Posada, the Nutcracker, Tosca, La Boehme and I Pagliacci. Additionally, ECC has provided children's voices on several recordings.

Over the years, the ECC has performed with the Evergreen Chorale, the Evergreen Chamber Orchestra, the Jefferson Symphony, the Colorado Ballet, and the Colorado Opera Troupe. They also regularly perform at Winterfest and Summerfest. In May, 2006, the ECC was selected as the official children's choir for the national tour of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. They have also regularly performed the National Anthem for the Shrine Circus at the Denver Coliseum. In 2006, the ECC performed at a benefit concert for Platte Canyon High School affected by the tragedy and received air time on Channel 9 and Fox 31. In June, 2009, 30 ECC members, alumni, parents, and staff traveled to Vienna, Austria, to participate in the Haydn International Youth Choral Festival. In May, 2011, 25 members of the Evergreen Children's Chorale performed with the Augustana College Choir under the Direction of Dr. Jon Hurty at Carnegie Hall in New York City. They performed Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. In June, 2014, 25 singers traveled to Washington DC to sing on the steps of the Capital with choirs from across the nation for a "Star Spangled Salute."

In addition, both groups have provided numerous off-site performances for other public & private organizations such as the Evergreen Life Care Center, Downtown Holiday Walk, Blue Spruce Kiwanis, Evergreen Kiwanis, Evergreen Rotary, Living Information for Today, Arvada Economic Council, Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, Great Chili Cook-off, and others.