The Palm Beach Post
By admin   |  Music  |  May 08, 2009

For six years, the members of the Young Singers of the Palm Beaches have rehearsed at the Kravis Center.

Finally, on Saturday, they’ll get to perform there.

“It’s so exciting. We’re just thrilled,” says managing director Beth Clark of the more than 200 kids from around Palm Beach County, whose annual spring concert will take place in the performing-arts center’s Dreyfoos Hall, adjacent to their rehearsal space in the Cohen Pavilion.

“We’ve been (performing) at the Borland Center in Palm Beach Gardens, but this is our first time at the Kravis Center,” Clark says. “We feel like we can really show a lot of people how outstanding our children are.”

The theme of this year’s show, featuring young vocalists who range in age from 8 to 18, is “Thank You For The Music,” a nod to the role the community plays in making the choir possible. But their service goes far beyond the singing.

“We wanted to thank them for being there for us. We started with 74 kids and now have 220. We did a profile of where they come from, and they’re from 60 schools and home schools,” she says.

The program includes the titular ABBA song, the Dixie Chicks (Cowboy, Take Me Away), Anthem for Spring from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Sting’s Fields of Gold and a presentation of photos of the mothers and grandmothers of the choir members.

“I hope there’s not a dry eye in the house,” Clark says.

The concert also features a collaboration with the Palm Beach Academy of Music and the dance group Street Beat, from Belle Glade, an unusual opportunity for students from clear across the county to work together.

In addition to providing a chance for connection with people they wouldn’t have met otherwise, participation in the Young Singers makes its members more well-rounded in every aspect of their lives, Clark says. This year, the choir’s six graduating seniors will attend schools like Nashville’s Belmont University, and the Juilliard School in New York.

Clark believes the choir has something to do with the singers’ educational achievements.

“What this is all about is life-skills training,” she says. “They have to come in and be prompt, to not chew gum, and pay attention and listen to the conductor. They need to have stage presence. Hopefully they’ll take these things into other aspects of their lives, in being able to speak to people. I was very shy in school, but I was in the choir, and that gave me confidence.”

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