Local Chorus Making Fenway Park Debut

They’ve only been around a short while, but in that time, the SouthCoast Children’s Chorus has taken their show to a grand scale that’s showing no signs of stopping. In just a few short weeks, they will be taking the field at America’s Most Beloved Ballpark to sing the National Anthem before a matchup between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.

“I told them at our February concert,” said Artistic Director Leslie Piper. “They went crazy!”

The chorus was formed in the winter of 2010 around the time of the Sippican Choral Society’s Winter Concert. The society’s director Brian Roderick had the idea to bring together five small local children’s church choirs for a large performance. Piper was the director of one of those small choirs.

“Each group tends to be pretty small, and when we came together, we had this wonderful sound,” Piper said. “I asked the Sippican Choral Society to keep this group together and they thought it was a great idea and were very willing to support us.”

Since that initial concert, the group has doubled in size. It now boasts 46 members from towns including Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, Fairhaven, Dartmouth, Westport and Cuttyhunk Island. 40 of those members are in grades 3-12 and are part of the touring chorus. The remaining six members are in grades 1-2 and make up the prep chorus.

No matter the age, the kids are always willing to give their all. They rehearse once a week at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Marion.

“It is my belief that children will achieve whatever you expect them to achieve,” Piper said.  “If you set high standards, they will achieve high standards.  They have proven that they have an amazing work ethic.”

The group’s repertoire includes a variety of different traditional songs from countries all over the world in a multitude of different languages. From Hebrew to German, and from as far away as Africa, the kids are exposed to several different cultures.

“I love having the kids sing in different languages because they learn so quickly,” said Piper. “It’s wonderful to introduce them to these songs so we can introduce them to new cultures and broaden their understanding of the world.”

Despite the international selections, there is still one homegrown song that is a favorite of the group’s to perform- the Star Spangled Banner. In February, the group learned that they would be performing the anthem at Fenway Park on Sunday, July 8.

Piper submitted an audition CD to the Red Sox over a year ago, and this year, she received an e-mail confirming that they had been selected to perform.

“It was just one of those things,” Piper said. “My son sang the National Anthem at Fenway with his college group and I thought, ‘I’m going to try and get my kids up there. Who knows? We’ll take a chance.’”

In addition to shipping up to Boston, the chorus has traveled out to the western part of the state, most recently to South Hadley where they teamed up with another children’s chorus to put on a dual performance.

But Piper is looking to bring this group’s show on the road across the country.

“I would love to take them to a festival,” said Piper.  “There’s one in Chicago that would be exciting to be a part of.  They would have the chance to sing under a nationally recognized conductor and since with hundreds of other children from across the country. That would be really exciting”

With the size of the group doubling in the past year alone, Piper is thrilled at the idea of even more expansion.

“I would love to keep on expanding,” she said.  “My goal is to have more levels than we do now. I would love to have a select chorus with kids who want to work extra hard and do more touring and are extra serious.”

The SouthCoast Children’s Chorus will be holding auditions on Sunday, June 3 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm; Wednesday, June 6 from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and Sunday June 10 from 3:00 to 4:00 pm. All auditions will be held at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church located at 124 Front St. in Marion. For more information, e-mail Piper at lesliepiper@msn.com

By Katy Fitzpatrick

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