Fort Wayne Children’s Choir opens their season Friday evening

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir kicked off their 2024-2025 season Friday evening at Foellinger Outdoor Theatre!

The choir held their annual Choralfest Concert. It was free for the community to attend and began at 7 PM. The theme for the concert this year was “A Musical Safari.” Singers enjoyed performing several animal-themed selections. A live goose and cat even made an appearance during the concert!

The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir Choralfest Concert is the culmination of the choir’s week-long summer day camp, featuring eight different ensembles. Songs were performed from each of these ensembles at the concert, along with musical selections that combined all of the ensembles. This means nearly 250 singers were performing all at once! Alumni were invited to attend and participate in a final, combined song.

The choir is celebrating 52 years of changing the lives of kids across our area. Jonathan Busarow, Executive Artistic Director, shares, “It is incredible to witness our talented young singers learning an entire concert’s worth of music in just one week. This achievement not only showcases their dedication but also underscores the effectiveness of our instruction, which places a strong emphasis on music literacy. We are immensely proud of our students and grateful for the support of our community in fostering a love for music among our youth.”

Whitley Community Choir Director Denise Gilliland says, “This event is just so much fun…it’s a place where we build foundation for the children and it’s a place where they are thriving in a musical environment and they’re improving socially, spiritually, and making a whole lot of beautiful music while they do it.”

The Choralfest camp, hosted at Purdue University Fort Wayne, includes music rehearsal, folk dance, hand chimes, visual arts, collaborative instruction from the Fort Wayne Dance Collective, and much more. It is a great way to kick off the season by bringing the singers together and establishing friendships prior to the beginning of the new school year.

The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir teaches music literacy to children from diverse backgrounds through song and performance. The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir is proud to represent 85 different schools, in addition to 45 homeschoolers from 30 zip codes in northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio counties. For more information, visit the choir’s website here .

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