This year, Paula Wallace and the Savannah Friends of Music will be honored in a ceremony on Saturday, March 10 from 6-8 p.m. sponsored by JCB at their headquarters in Pooler.  The evening includes an awards ceremony, special concert by the Savannah Children’s Choir, and a cocktail buffet.

Paula Wallace saw that the Esther F. Garrison School of Visual and Performing Arts needed help getting ready to open their new specialty school.  She identified several key needs, and helped improve the school building and grounds in time for opening.

The Savannah Friends of Music works tirelessly to raise funds to help provide opportunities for musically talented youth in our community.  Through their support of the Savannah Youth Orchestra, scholarships for summer camp programs and direct involvement with local schools, they help local youth experience the magic of music.

Join us as we celebrate our 2012 honorees on March 10.  Tickets available here.

Darian Clonts, the Morehouse College tenor who joined us as an Artist in Residence for SCC’s 2011 5th Anniversary Celebration, will hold his Senior Recital on Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 7:00pm.

The recital is his final requirement  from the Music Department at Morehouse College.

He will be singing selections by different composers from Henry Purcell to Hall Johnson and Duke Ellington.

The concert will be held at the Emma and Joe Adams Concert Hall in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center at Morehouse College.

All are invited.

Admission is free, however, the choirs are asking for cash – not food – donations to help support the work of Savannah’s Thomas Park Food Pantry.

The Gulf Coast Youth Choir is a not-for-profit choral arts organization for young people throughout the Tampa Bay area in Florida and was established as the youth choir in residence at the University of South Florida in 2011. Gulf Coast Youth Choirs are dedicated to excellence in the performance of choral music.  GCYC consist of 6 different choirs that perform locally, nationally and internationally in various choral concerts and choral competitions.

The Gulf Coast Children’s Choir was formed in 1993 and is an auditioned, intermediate-level choir of young singers, ages 8-12 under the direction of Mrs. Marjorie Smith. 

The Children’s Choir has performed at Magic Music Days at Disney World, served as the demonstration choir for the Florida ACDA State convention, and was selected to be the featured performers at the Florida Elementary Music Educators Association State convention in 1998.  They also performed the African Sanctus with the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay in the spring of 2000. The Children’s Choir has served as the host ensemble for the Young Voices Festival since 2001.  In 2005, they were selected for a special performance at the Florida ACDA State Conference.  Most recently, this choir recorded a children’s choral piece that will be on the demonstration CD that accompanies the 2007 choral releases from Walton Music Publishers.  In addition, this choir has previously toured to Tallahassee, Orlando and Miami and served as a special demonstration choir for the music departments of Florida State University, University of Central Florida and the University of Miami.

The SCC’s Summer Camp is back with a great new twist!  This year, instead of an End of Camp concert, we’re putting on an End of Camp SHOW!  This fully-staged musical will feature our talented summer campers singing, dancing and acting!

Summer Camp is 9am to 5 pm each weekday, July 16-27, held at Asbury Memorial United Methodist church on Henry & Waters.  Camp is designed for kids who are rising 2nd through 8th graders

Instructors earning advanced degrees from top colleges and universities are recruited to share their love of music with our campers.  Each day your musically-interested 2nd-8th grader learns about music history, theory and sight singing, and this year will also have classes in dance and movement,and acting.   You’ll feel part of the team singing during Group Choral time, and every day ends with a healthy snack and a concert given by local musicians.

In addition to being a fun camp, SCC’s Summer Camp serves as the only audition into the SCC for the 2012-2013 season!

Not quite old enough for “big” camp?  Try our one-week, half-day Mini-Camp for kids aged 4-7.

Register conveniently online using a credit card here (convenience fees apply) or fill out your form and mail in a check (here).

The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System honored Jadon Snider at this month’s board meeting for the Superintendent’s Student of the Month. Jadon is a 5th grade student from Marshpoint Elementary School. Jadon was selected for his unwavering determination to achieve remarkable goals against any challenge. Jadon is in the gifted program at Marshpoint where he demonstrates a continued high level of academic performance and a strong character with clear leadership qualities. This student has achieved High Honor Roll for two consecutive years, serves on the student council, is an on-air anchor for Marshpoint’s morning newscast, plays baseball and football for the Boys Club, plays percussion in the school band, and sings in the Savannah Children’s Choir.

Jadon’s teachers and peers describe him as polite and well-rounded. He is willing to put in extra time to succeed and knows the value of helping others, as he tutors younger students during the school day and often substitutes his recess time to conduct research on the internet.  When asked what motivates him to strive for success, he stated that his various extra-curricular activities not only keep him busy, but focused as well.  Please join us in congratulating Jadon Snider as the Superintendent’s Student of the Month for January 2012.

Recently, SEOPro Intelligent Marketing helped the Savannah Children’s Choir’s website get found more easily.  SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a way to identify key words to help people find what they’re searching for.

They generously offered to provide a make-over of the SCC’s SEO campaign and increase the click through rate of any organic search listings. The goal was to optimize the site for terms such as: Savannah Choir Children’s Choir in Savannah and Savannah, GA Choir.

Each of the terms listed and many others now show Savannah Children’s Choir at a #1 first page ranking across the board.

Eventually they look to expand the terms into more localized search options such as: Choir Children’s Choir Choir Service and more.

For more information on Search Engine Optimization services in the Savannah area, contact their Savannah Marketing team at 917-275-7759.

In addition to the numerous educational sessions offered, attendees were invited to apply to participate in a conducting master class.

The Conducting Master Class, led by Dr. Catherine Sailer of the University of Denver and Dr. Janet Galván from Ithaca College, focuses on individual’s conducting techniques in order to improve their choir’s sound and overall presentation. Of over 150 applicants received, the Savannah Children’s Choir’s Director of Education, Emmy Williams, was one of only three selected to participate.

“We’re thrilled that Ms. Williams was chosen,” comments Roger Moss, SCC co-founder and artistic director. “Not only will attending this conference help build upon Ms. Williams already considerable skills, but it’s an honor that reflects on our entire organization that she was selected to participate out of such a large pool of talented conductors from around the country,” he continued.

“This is a fantastic opportunity,” comments Emmy Williams, SCC director of education. “I hope to learn how to better reach students and achieve the sound I’m looking for, as well as receive feedback on my work, all while learning new techniques and skills from experienced master conductors,” she explained.

As director of education, Ms. Williams is in charge of SCC’s Summer Camp, and is responsible for curriculum development and instructor recruitment, training and management. She is also responsible for rehearsal planning for the SCC, and conducts the SCC’s Preparatory Choir.

The Savannah Children’s Choir was chosen this year to be YPS’s “Charity of Choice”, and the money was raised during the organization’s 6^th anniversary celebration.

“This is one of the nicest gifts we could have received at our holiday party,” commented SCC executive director Cuffy Sullivan.  “Not only were we thrilled to be chosen as YPS’s Charity of Choice, but we look forward to developing ongoing relationships with the dynamic young members of this organization,” she continued.

“The SCC came out and created a ‘flash mob’ at our anniversary celebration,” explains Deborah Dickson, who also served as event chair of the 6^th anniversary celebration.  “It was wonderful for our members to see the children, and understand who their donation was going to”.

For more information about Young Professionals of Savannah, go to www.ypsav.net.

Your honoree will receive a lovely card letting them know of your thoughtful gift.

The Savannah Children’s Choir is a not-for-profit, 501-c-3 organization, and all donations are deductible to the full extent of the law.

Click below to make your donation safely and securely online using PayPal, and be sure to include the name and address of your honoree in the comments section.