User:JaxChildrensChorus/sandbox

Jacksonville Children's Chorus (JCC) is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization based in Jacksonville, Florida. JCC was founded in 1995 at Jacksonville University starting with only 16 singers and growing to serve up to 600+ singers in year-long choirs and outreach programs.

About
The Jacksonville Children's Chorus provides high-quality choral music education for children of diverse backgrounds, fostering teamwork, self-discipline, accomplishment and pride while filling an important cultural need in the community and sharing the beauty of the choral art form through artistically excellent performances. The Chorus includes multiple programs designed for singers as young as 18 months up to 18 years old.

History
The JCC was founded at Jacksonville University in 1995 to fill a need for a children’s music program in the area. JCC was founded by Jacksonville University President Dr. Frances B. Kinne, Dr. Jon O. Carlson, and Jim Taylor who served as the first conductor. During the first year, the JCC contained only 16 singers.

As a small arts organization, the JCC faced many challenges including little financial support and little visibility in the community. In 1998, JCC established a scholarship program to provide financial assistance to families who cannot afford tuition. In 2001, JCC was named the designated children’s chorus of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra (JSO). This helped the JCC gain name recognition in the community.

In 2006, the Board of Directors appointed Darren Dailey as JCC’s Artistic and Executive Director. Since then, the JCC has expanded its choir programs and developed self-produced, sold-out concerts. In 2016, Darren Dailey was appointed as President and Artistic Director.

Choirs
The JCC is divided into different choirs depending on age and musical skill level.


 * Primary Choir - A semester-based, introductory music program open to all children in Kindergarten through 2nd grade.
 * Training Choir - A performing choir open to all children in grades 2 - 5.
 * Treble Choir - An intermediate performing choir, open to children in grades 4 - 12.
 * Touring Choir - A premier performing choir of advanced young singers in grades 6 - 12. Up to 30 singers may be selected to participate in this choir.
 * Concert Choir (inactive) - An advanced choir open to boys and girls in grades 5 - 12 by invitation only from the Artistic Director.
 * Young Men’s Chorus (inactive) - A choir of young men who are experiencing voice expansion.

Tours
The Touring Choir participates in various national and international tours.


 * 2019 Summer Tour - Iceland, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, and Ireland
 * 2018 Winter Tour - Italy to perform Papal Mass


 * 2017 Summer Tour - Greece, Italy, Slovenia, Malta, and Croatia
 * 2016 Northern European Tour - Germany, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, and Russia
 * 2015 Tour -  New York City, New York, New England, and Canada
 * 2014 Mediterranean Tour - St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Italy, and Corfu, Greece with the Corfu Children’s Choir.

Outreach

 * 2000 - 2001
 * Outreach programs added
 * Mid-Winter Music Workshop for area music educators
 * First Coast Honors Choir Festival
 * Vocal Exploration (inactive)
 * Free Preschool Music Classes (Virtual as of 2020)
 * Group Piano Keyboard Classes (inactive)
 * River City Choral Festival and Day Camp (inactive)
 * June 2020 - Virtual Summer Songwriting Workshop with renowned composer Jim Papoulis
 * Mini tours to local senior living facilities

Performances

 * 2019 - 2020
 * March 2020 - Touring Choir performs during American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Regional Conference in Mobile, Alabama
 * December 2019 - The Morning Show in Jacksonville, Florida
 * 2018 - 2019
 * Young Men’s Chorus joins JCC Concert Choir on their first tour at North Carolina Summer Institute in Choral Art at Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, North Carolina
 * 2017 - 2018
 * Touring Choir invited to participate in 2018 Choir Festival in Rome
 * January 1, 2018 - Touring choir performs at St. Peter’s Basilica at Papal Mass with Sistine Chapel Choir
 * Young Men’s Chorus is invited to participate in Savannah’s Invitational Youth Choir Festival for Boys, also known as “Savannah Sings”
 * 2015 - 2016
 * JCC self-produces fall concert with Kristin Chenoweth
 * JCC commissions and performs “Friendship” - a new choral work adapted from a poem by Helen Steiner Rice with music by Rosephanye Powell
 * 2014 - 2015
 * All choirs perform spring concert with Voca People
 * Touring Choir performs at multiple venues in New York City; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Portland, Maine and aboard the Norwegian Gem cruise ship
 * 2013 - 2014
 * Guest conductors Dr. Rollo Dilworth of Temple University and Anne Purcell, Mairéad Déiseach and Órla Gillan of the National Children’s Chorus of Ireland conducted the 11th Annual Honors Choir Festival & Young Men’s Choral Festival
 * Produces a spring concert with Amy Grant
 * Partners with JSO for Mahler’s Third Symphony
 * Touring Choir travels to Italy and Greece - performances at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St. Mark’s in Venice, St. Jacob’s Cathedral in Corfu, Greece with Corfu Children’s Choir, and abroad the cruise ship Stardust Theater
 * 2012 - 2013
 * Performs Britten’s War Requiem with the JSO
 * Touring Choir performs in Seattle, Washington, and Alaska
 * 2011 - 2012
 * Concert Choir performed at American Choral Directors Conference
 * Performance at Spoleto Music Festival in Charleston, South Carolina
 * Touring Choir performs in Ireland with National Children’s Choir of Ireland
 * 2010 - 2011
 * Times Union Center of the Performing Arts with the Westminster Choir
 * JCC produces the second annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration in Jacoby Hall featuring Edward Waters College Concert Choir, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts Concert Chorale, University of North Florida’s Perfect Fifths, Bethel Baptist Institutional Church Choir, First Coast High School Men’s Chorale, and Shiloh Metropolitan Baptist Church Choir
 * 2009 - 2010
 * Touring Choir performs at June Lincoln Center in New York
 * 2007 - 2008
 * Hosts and performs with African Children’s Choir
 * Touring Choir performs at Carnegie Hall
 * 2005 - 2006
 * Performs in Carmina Burana
 * 2004 - 2005
 * JSO Production - La Boheme
 * 2002-2003
 * First Large-scale benefit concert in Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall
 * Concert Choir performs in JSO production of Carmen
 * 2000 - 2001
 * Concert Choir performed in first opera - JSO production of Tosca

Accomplishments

 * 2019 - 2020
 * JCC receives the 2020 Chorus America’s Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award, recognizing the organization’s commitment to diversity, inclusiveness, and furthering African-American and other diverse choral traditions through performance, research, or the creation of new compositions of significance
 * 2018 - 2019
 * Voices of Jacksonville was established highlighting JCC alumni and local professional singers
 * JCC President and Artistic Director, Darren Dailey, receives 2019 Alumni Merit Award from Westminster Choir College Alumni Board at Bristol Chapel in Princeton, New Jersey
 * 2017 - 2018
 * Expands educational offerings with a new Group Piano Keyboard Class
 * Collaborates with Dr. Michael John Trotta, world-renowned composer, to commission a multi-movement choral composition using the poetry of Sara Teasdale
 * Premieres River City Choral Musical Festival - a week-long summer music camp and festival for grades 4 - 12
 * 2015 - 2016
 * Premieres professional development workshops for music educators
 * Hosts and collaborates with guest conductor Christina Kalliaridou of the Corfu Children’s Choir at the 13th Annual First Coast Honors Choir
 * Established "Downtown Dazzle" a holiday compilation of synchronized JCC music and holiday lights
 * 2014 - 2015
 * Celebrates 20th anniversary with a new logo and website design.
 * Makes JCC history with sold-out, standing-room-only Cool Side of Yuletide and Martin Luther King, Jr. concerts.
 * Dancing with the Stars event surpasses expectations with a record number of tickets and sponsorships sold ensuring JCC financial stability.
 * 2013 - 2014
 * JCC YouTube video “Oye” receives over 37,000 hits
 * Dr. Frances B. Kinne Scholarship Endowment Fund established
 * Jon O. Carlson Memorial Scholarship Fund established
 * Lindsay Joiner Keller Memorial Scholarship Fund established
 * 2012 - 2013
 * Inaugurates a Young Men’s Choral Festival
 * 2011 - 2012
 * Young Men’s Chorus for boys experiencing voice expansion begins
 * 2010 - 2011
 * Inauguration of a Vocal Exploration Class program for younger children who are not ready for the demands of a performing choir
 * Free preschool music classes held for children 18 months through three years
 * More than 250 children enrolled in Training, Treble, Concert, and Touring Choir Programs
 * 2009 - 2010
 * JCC produces the Inaugural Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration in Jacoby Hall with guest choirs representing the community
 * 2008 - 2009
 * Satellite Training Choirs expanded to include four sites
 * Recorded with Roseanne Cash in “How Many Christmases”
 * Recorded with Voices for Voices Holiday CD.


 * 2007 - 2008
 * Expands Training Choir Program with satellite Training Choir at Brentwood Elementary
 * 2006 - 2007
 * Inaugurates a Training Choir program at Hyde Park Elementary School
 * Scholarship Endowment Fund established through major donation from Wayne and Delores Weaver
 * 2005 - 2006
 * Adds preschool music classes weekly at the Children’s Commission’s new Don Brewer Center for Learning and the Sulzbacher Center
 * 2004 - 2005
 * Expands Treble Choir
 * Featured as lead chorus in the World’s Largest Concert broadcast on PBS
 * 2000-2001
 * Named the designated children’s chorus of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra (JSO)

Awards

 * Brazeal Wayne Dennard Award (2020)
 * JCC President and Artistic Director, Darren Dailey receives 2019 Alumni Merit Award from Westminster Choir College Alumni Board at Bristol Chapel in Princeton, New Jersey