Steppin' Out

Story

Vivace Youth Chorus singers warm up for an eventful year

By Heather Zimmerman

The season is just getting started for Vivace Youth Chorus of San Jose, but the group already has a busy year to look forward to. The chorus, now entering its fifth year, will present several holiday events, mark its fifth anniversary with a special concert and embark on its biggest trip to date.

The group, which offers programs for youth ages 4 to 16, has open enrollment for new members until Sept. 24.

Vivace grew out of a youth choir that closed in 2003. "A group of the parents who had been involved in that choir really wanted to keep something going for kids in the South Bay," Vivace's founder and artistic director Peggy Spool says. "So we put Vivace together." Spool is a singer, conductor and teacher who holds a master's from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has worked with area children's choruses for 15 years.

Vivace Youth Chorus offers five choirs for different skills and age levels, which include preparatory, intermediate, concert and chamber choirs, and a teen ensemble was added last year. These groups perform two concerts each season: a holiday concert and a spring performance.

The Rising Notes, an introductory class for children ages 4 to 6, also began last year. "Younger ones saw their older siblings having so much fun and so we needed to start something for them too," Vivace executive administrator Rosalie Bruning says. "They have a lot of fun with it."

Across all levels of its choirs, Vivace teaches music using a method named for Hungarian composer and educator Zoltán Kodály. "Kodály musical education is unique because it's based in singing," Spool says. "A lot of theory programs are based on the keyboard, but Kodály is something that's especially suited for young singers." Instructors receive certification in the method. Spool shares teaching duties with professional singer Amy Cowan, who leads the intermediate choir and the Rising Notes.

The chorus' season is similar to the traditional September-June school year, and rehearsals for all choir levels are held weekly at the Stone Church, 1937 Lincoln Ave., San Jose. Vivace's young singers can bolster their musical knowledge at retreats and workshops held periodically during the year.

The groups' repertoire draws on a wide variety of music, including classical, some jazz and blues, and in particular, folk songs. "Especially with the younger children, I like to use a lot of things that are based in folk music because it's very genuine music and it really speaks to them," Spool says.

She notes that she makes a point to include music in other languages in the choirs' repertoires. "I do use language as much as I can because I think that's something that's really special about singing, that you can access other cultures through their music, and it just gives them an experience of something from another part of the world."

Next summer, Vivace's older, upper-level choirs will perform Polynesian music and dance when they attend the Pacific Rim Children's Chorus Festival in Hawaii. The well-regarded festival highlights musical traditions from Pacific Rim cultures. Among other things, participants will learn songs in their original languages from native speakers.

In addition to performing folk music from around the world, classical and jazz music, Vivace's singers sometimes get a chance to try out some brand-new works, as well. Spool says that Vivace has worked with several local composers, and this year, has commissioned its first work. Brian Holmes, a composer and horn player (and a physics professor at San Jose State University) is writing the piece, which will debut at Vivace's fifth anniversary concert in the spring.

Further broadening the Vivace singers' experience are performances beyond their two regular season concerts, including singing at public events, such as the city of San Jose's Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebrations, or in visits to retirement communities.

Bruning says that such activities foster camaraderie among the choir members, and encourage public service. "It's community-building as well as community-oriented," she says.

Vivace Youth Chorus' first performance of the season will be a winter concert on Dec. 16, 4 p.m. at the Campbell United Methodist Church with another holiday-themed event slated for earlier in December.

Chorus enrollment closes Sept. 24. For more information, call 408.979.9997 or visit www.vivacey
outhchorus.org.