When I was growing up attending public school, I fell in love with singing in chorus. I sang alto, I sang in a trio with two of my girl friends (we even sang “Going to the Chapel” at my wedding reception in 3 part harmony)….I went to all-state, all-county chorus groups, sang in swing choir, and also sang in my church choir. I sang several (judged) NYSSMA solos, and in my senior year I received the highest score of my school (on my solo) and had the honor of singing at the end of the year banquet. Oh how I loved it all. It was many years ago now, but I have such good memories of those times. Music programs for children are such a blessing!
When we began homeschooling our children, my heart ached because I didn’t think it see how it would be possible to get them involved in a good music program.
Thankfully, God had a plan. He led me to a brochure at our local library advertising a community school of the arts program, and after making some phone calls I was able to get them into music lessons…..and also an excellent choral program.
As parents, yes, it has been somewhat of a sacrifice on our part, but Rich and I both have been rewarded over and over by the experience. The children have their practice every Monday night throughout the school year and have already had several beautiful concerts. We sit and listen so full of joy that they could have such experiences.
This past Saturday the children were involved in a concert and were able to sing with the University of Connecticut Collegium Musicum. The front of the program said, “J.S. Bach and the German Choral Heritage, Sacred and Secular Music that Influenced the Baroque Master, works by J. Micheal Bach, J.S. Bach, Hassler, Isaac, Praetorius, Scheidt, and Schutz”.
The pieces were wonderfully God-honoring and beautiful~the kind of music that makes you close your eyes and soak it in. My favorite was when the youth choir sang “A Mighty Fortress is our God” in English, and the college choir sang the same song in German from up above in the balconies. The acoustics were exquisite in the church they were performing in.
(random comment: When the youth choir director began training the children in “A Mighty Fortress” she asked the students if anyone knew who Martin Luther was and what he was famous for, Jacob knew the answer and spoke up in class. Yes, I’m proud of him but…it was also affirmation that homeschooling is working for us!)
The children sang in Latin!
(another random comment: The program included this note: “The ensembles kindly request that you silence all electronic noisemakers for the duration of the concert.” This makes me chuckle because SETH is not an electronic noisemaker, but he IS a noisemaker and Rich had to kindly silence him. He spent the entire program standing in the back with him, while I sat in the audience with Caleb and David, who had their own struggles.)
Yes, we all felt quite cultured after the evening was over (all but Seth). The director did such a wonderful job at writing up an informative program, and taking the time to explain the meaning and history of the songs.
Here is a little video of one of the pieces. Enjoy! And thanks for stopping by my blog today! xoxox, Shanda
Good to be Home 
How wonderful ~ enjoyed the performance immensely, Shanda. Thank you for sharing it ~
Oh, beautiful. So wonderful to see even the small children singing there! Music is such a gift; both Carl and I had some training in our teenage years, and we’re determined our girls will at least get the basics, even if they don’t want to pursue it as far as we did. Thank you for sharing!
I would be so proud of them, too. What a precious post! Thank you for sharing it with us. It is a classic, worshipful piece of music
My 4 yr old said, “That was REALLY pretty!”, and I agree.Thank you so much for sharing!!
Oh how beautiful. That was just lovely!
Beautiftul!
So wonderful!!! Let’s talk soon!! 🙂
Beautiful!The video really brought all your words together, it felt like I was in the pew with you listening!
Beautiful!! I got goose bumps listening.
Magnificent music! That is one of my concerns too because I had a similar experience growing up, with all the musical opportunities and I already see the love of music has been passed on to the children. I hope I can find a similar program close to wherever we end up.
Beautiful! What a great experience for your kids. I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for sharing!
Took me back to my roots…I grew up with acapella singing. Very pretty!
My husband is a voice and piano teacher. He was dressing as I listened. He said that was incredible. All those young ones to be on pitch and no one starting when they should not is an incredible task.You certainly have been blessed.
Oh wow, that was just beautiful!!! What a wonderful experience for your kids!!! You must be so very proud :))))
Beautiful!
very lovely. Your kids are really coming along with their singing…it sounds lovely!
Wow! What a blessing. Thank you for sharing.
Hi Shanda~ What beautiful memories and singing children. I love old hymns and to hear children singing them is such a blessing to anyone’s heart!I had to laugh when I started the video of your children singing because the music sounded so familar….then it hit me….I had forgotten to turn my blog music off :-] Blessings friend~ Cinnamon
WOW Shanda, what a thrill to hear this – THANK YOU! I agree with sixAs comment; the beautiful pitch, even tempo, and expressive deliverance of the piece are no small accomplishment with so many young children. What an awesome experience for them to be involved in something like this, and for you!I love the first photo of the kids all dressed for the performance. Grace looks so grown up!
Beautiful, beautiful. A blessing to be sure. The children look so grown up in their choir clothes.
I have always loved Choral music…Choir was a big part of my high school years…I have gotten out of practice with the choral pieces, but I have a CD of one of our concerts in high school (my junior year final concert)…and I like to sing along with it…
I loved it — play more!! What a wonderful opportunity for your children to sing the great choral music. So many of today’s churches are going to choruses and dittys and the younger generation is not learning the great songs of the faith — it breaks my heart! God bless you for being willing to give your children this great opportunity. We always told our children when they didn’t want to practice or sing with us — “you can always use your music, you’ll get to old to play sports!” They did both but they are beginning to realize that we were right!! Your children look so grown-up in their outfits — a very handsome (and pretty) trio!
lovely, I was in choir all throughout school as well (soprano) and I also played the flute in the band for 9 years…those really were some of my greatest experiences. i am so so thankful to my parents for encouraging me to get involved in extracurricular activities!
Wow!!! Such beautiful voices…I can’t believe it’s a children chorus. My oldest son just said that it sounds so cool . I sing alto, too. I love harmony!!
hi shanda…….just lovely. what a wonderful opportunity for your children.
and by the way, what are you feeding jacob? he is getting SO TALL!!!
So tired after a night shift and little sleep today, BUT…just soaked in the beauty of that music. Closed my eyes and just listened. Thanks.
Wow…beautiful!!
that is awesome that they have such a wonderful opportunity! Hard to come by in many areas and so much $. in our’s. It’s great music training and experience – beautiful performance. I’m sure you and Rich are proud of their accomplishments in this 🙂 They look so grown up all dressed up too ~ :)hope you’re feeling okay – I’m sure you’re counting down the time to baby’s arrival.a.
This brings back such great memories for me. I started off in high school singing in a choir that sang the same type of music as this and after graduating was able to continue singing with the chorus as a soprano concert soloist. My heart aches that my kids can’t be part of a choir like that but we are unable to do something like this at this time. How wonderful!!! I just loved it. Thank you for sharing so much!!
Thanks for including that video clip. It was beautiful. I would have loved being in the audience, but this was 2nd best. Thanks again! Truely a blessing!
Wow! You must be so proud! Beautiful!
Wow! You must be so proud! Beautiful!
That was wonderful! I am glad, too that they are having this great experience!
The picture of your children dressed for their concert is such a nice one!Like many others, here, I sang similar music and we sang in different languages. Because of my music exposure in choir, I am able to read quite a few different languages – including Latin! I bet your children will find the same thing to be true when they are older. They are getting more than just voice lessons!P.S. The church is beautiful!
That was beautiful. How exciting that your children have the opportunity to be involved in the choir. Thanks for including your history and how “God had a plan” and is meeting you and Rich with the decision to homeschool. It rang in my ears. Reflective of some conversations my husband and I have had. We are knee deep trying to discern God’s plan for our family on how to educate our children. I would love to hear more about how the Lord opened your eyes to the call to homeschool, and how He meets you on the journey. Praying all is well with you and your family. Take care!!! ~ Deborah
How lovely. I wish I could find something like that for my kids to be part of. I used to be very involved with classical music and choir. I was a first soprano. I used to compete in the NATS competitions. I went to college to study classical and opera, but never finished. I got married and had babies instead! I do however sing with my sisters now for different things, and that’s more fun! We attend Moody Bible church in Chicago, and a couple of months ago we sang A Mighty Fortress is our God. It was amazing! The Moody choir, the orchestra, and the people of the congregation all sang together, the song was so booming, so worshipful. I like how you sang Going to the Chapel on your wedding day. My sister is getting married in a couple weeks, I might steal this idea from you! =)