There are lots of different ways that parents try to instill a sense of culture in their kids: ballet lessons, piano lessons, art lessons. In some ways, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus plays into that role, offering instruction and performance opportunities to some 450 children from ages 7 to 18. But, this is no ordinary afterschool program: The BYC has emerged as New York’s leading youth chorus, called upon frequently to perform with orchestras and rock bands alike. In 2002, the Concert Chorus—the BYC’s top division—performed the world premieres of Nico Muhly’s Tell the Way and John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls with the New York Philharmonic.
Even more impressive is the fact that Dianne Berkun-Menaker, the BYC’s founder and Artistic Director, has made an solid commitment to contemporary music with the New Voices project, which has commissioned more than two dozen works from a who’s who of contemporary composers, including Nico, David Lang, and Bryce Dessner, among others.
This past Saturday, I trekked out in the snow to Midwood for the BYC’s annual Holiday Harmonies concert at Brooklyn College’s Walt Whitman Hall. For the most part, the program was the sort of family-friendly affair where parents stormed the stage to snap iPhone photos of their kids singing “Jingle Bells” or “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” But, those who were seeking a more enriching musical experience had their patience rewarded in the second half, when the Concert Chorus performed selections from Britten’s Ceremony of Carols with stunning clarity and force.
That was followed by Caroline Shaw’s Its Motion Keeps, a New Voices commission which was inspired by Britten’s Ceremony and premiered last month at Carnegie Hall. Shaw, who won the Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for Partita for 8 Voices, said at the time, “When I was writing this piece I had complete confidence in BYC. There is no choir in the country like it. They are young and eager and capable of expressing such a wide range of emotion. And they master difficult harmonies and rhythms with ease.”
Similar to Britten, Shaw split the chorus, creating overlapping, antiphonal sounds marked by decay and dissonance, hushing the huge audience into stunned silence. Accompanying the chorus was the talented violinist Megan Berson (Shaw herself played at the premiere performance). This was a mesmerizing, substantial new work expertly delivered by these talented young singers.
Also on the program was Richard Reed Parry’s Their Passing In Time, which premiered during BAM’s Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival last April. Parry, best known as the keyboardist/accordionist for Arcade Fire, offered a crowd-pleasing mix of tribal chant and rock-style rhythm, accompanied by guitarist Geremy Schulick. Yet to me, the music felt somewhat one-dimensional, at least next to Caroline’s, which, from what I gather, will be a common hazard for the near and distant future.
More pics on the photo page.
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”
It was an incredible concert. To be able to see the progression from the youngest singers in the training divisions to the professional-level concert chorus was a moving experience! It was amazing to see Founder/Artistic Director Dianne Berkun-Menaker leading 450 kids (all divisions) at the end and to think that she founded Brooklyn Youth Chorus just over 20 years ago with an initial class of 45 students. I heard the man next to me comment, “Dianne looks like a goddess surrounded by angels.”