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| ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S CHORUS OF MARYLAND & SCHOOL OF MUSIC | |||||
About Us
Mission and PhilosophyChildren's Chorus of Maryland empowers musical children and promotes the fine art of music. We achieve our mission by providing children with the tools of self-expression, through choral music education and professional performance opportunities, in a program dedicated to excellence, aesthetic sensitivity, play-based learning, respect, and diversity.
We believe that music communicates the essence of the human spirit. We also believe that what is best about us has been recorded in our musical heritage, and in teaching this language to children we are passing on an essential part of the human experience to future generations. Just as our students develop and mature into fine musicians, they evolve into capable young men and women who have individually mastered the skills of personal and collaborative commitment. These ideals include discipline, dedication to both short- and long-term goals, respect for peers and teachers, self-respect, the ability to work within a group towards a common goal, and recognition of the value of hard work to achieve what is truly fine. These qualities will enrich their lives and communities as they reach adulthood and carve out their places in the world.
History and Performances
Betty Bertaux founded the Children’s Chorus of Maryland (CCM) in 1976 with a core group
of six children who met in a private home. Her goal was to provide
children with exemplary vocal music education and with performance opportunities equal
to their accomplishments and to the organization’s curriculum standards. After a period
of absence, Dr. Bertaux returned to CCM in 1999. Beginning in 2006, she stepped
over to focus on CCM's Education Program as Mairee Pantzer serves as Artistic
Director. CCM can presently accommodate
approximately 120 students.
Examples of CCM performance venues and partners include:
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In 1998, CCM competed with 210 choirs from around the country and was selected to be the featured choir at the Eighth Annual Choral Festival in New York City held at Carnegie Hall. After the 35-minute opening performance, our choristers received a standing ovation from an audience of music professionals. CCM choristers were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall again in June, 2003, and again received a standing ovation from a full house.
Communities Served
The CCM conservatory program is open to all children ages 5 1/2 to 17 who qualify by
passing an audition. Students come from Baltimore City and Baltimore, Anne Arundel,
Caroll, Howard, Harford, Prince George Counties. Our live audiences come from many areas of the
state, country or world, depending on our itineraries. Televised performances have
included local and worldwide broadcasts. In 1995, CCM was proclaimed by Governor
Schaefer to be the official Children’s Chorus in Maryland.
In 2000, CCM founded a training program for music educators, the American Kodály Institute (AKI). Music teachers from all over the country participate in this three-year certificate program.
Educational Program
The CCM curriculum, taught by specially trained and highly qualified music educators, is an adaptation of the highly acclaimed Kodály approach to music education, modified by Gordon Music Learning Theory. The conservatory training levels meet on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Those levels are: Treble Choir, made up of Beginner I, Beginner II, and Beginner III classes; Lyric Choir, made up of Intermediate I, Intermediate II, and Intermediate III classes, and Concert Choir, comprised of Solfa I, II, III, and IV classes. Children from Intermediate III are required to pass a rigorous examination for entrance into the Solfa classes and the Concert Choir.
Students who complete the CCM conservatory program have the equivalent of at least a first year college level of music education. They are trained in healthy vocal technique, musicianship, theory, harmony, dictation, rhythm and solfege in major and minor keys as well as all modes. Some gain experience in composition. All children in CCM also gain important experience with self-paced learning, mental concentration, a heightened personal and social awareness, and flexibility.
Music and Children
Scientists and educators agree that music, as the often under-appreciated "seventh science", strengthens many essential areas of a child’s development, such as physical coordination, timing, memory, visual, aural, analytical and language skills. In fact, as psychologist Frances Rauscher of University of California-Irvine notes, music appears to strengthen the links between brain neurons and build new spatial reasoning, improving a child’s spatial intelligence. Studies also show that music dramatically improves the type of intelligence needed for high-level math and science.
Dr. Frank Wilson, Assistant Neurology Professor at the University of California School of Medicine, San Francisco, reports that his research has shown that music connects and develops the motor systems of the brain in a way that cannot be done by any other activity. Recent data from UCLA brain scan research studies show that music more fully involves brain functions (both left and right hemispheres) than any other activities studied. Dr. Wilson feels these findings are so significant that it will lead to a universal understanding in the next century that music is an absolute necessity for the total development of the brain and the individual. This means that the business of making high quality music training accessible and fun for children is one that CCM takes seriously.
As a direct result of Children's Chorus of Maryland training, the following skill areas are expected to improve:
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Funding Sources
Tuition covers approximately 40% of CCM’s annual operating budget. Remaining expenses are funded through concert fees, donations, and fundraising activities conducted by the Board of Directors and the Parent Association.
Current Significant Donors:
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Locations
| CCM Offices: | 100 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Suite 202, Towson, MD 21286 |
| Classes and Rehearsals: | St. Timothy Lutheran Church; 100 E. Timonium Rd.; Timonium. MD 21093 |