Children’s Choir

Rejoice and Sing!
Music is a manifestation of the human spirit… It’s greatest practitioners have conveyed to mankind things not possible to say in any other language.
Zoltan Kodaly

Children and Youth Choirs at St. David’s offer our young singers a quality musical education by incorporating the best elements of Kodaly pedagogy and Orff Schulwerk. Younger children learn to sing in true intervals and match pitch while they experience rhythm, tempo and dynamics in song and play. Experience with beat and rhythm prepares singers for playing accompaniments on unpitched instruments (like drum and claves) and tuned instruments (like xylophone and glockenspiel). Older children and youth develop their singing voices, and translate songs to solfege (do-re-mi) and learn to sing form musical notation. Repetoire includes folk songs, classical anthems traditional hymns, spirituals and contemporary worship music.

What the Choir Experience Offers

Music makes you smarter
There is overwhelming evidence that music does more than teach children to sing. Research has consistently shown that regular exposure to music results in higher standardized test scores. Music education leads to a better understanding of math and a larger vocabulary. Making music together helps the young child with social development, motor development and memory development. Music is history, geography, foreign languages, literature and math all rolled into one.

Music Sings our Faith
Children often find a profound and meaningful religious education in church choir. Scripture in song may be kept in music memory for life. In our musicals we learn stories, and artistic interpretations of verses from the Bible. Choice of music follows the church calendar, enhancing our experience of liturgical seasons. The songs we learn for Christmas and Easter, Advent and Lent are music and lessons for the journey.

Music Builds Community
Children receive this life-long enrichment in an enjoyable, social and lively setting. We seek to provide our children the opportunity for a positive group experience. We want each child to know that their voice benefits the whole sound, and the sound of the whole group is a gift and a genuine contribution to our worshipping community.

Pre-K Music Readiness
Pre- k’s join children in Cherub Choir for 20 minutes of songs and games, starting at 6 pm. Parents may attend with their child or stay close by for dismissal at 6:20 p.m. For more information email .

Cherub Choir
Children in Kindergarten and 1st grade meet from 6-7 p.m. for music education and singing, in preparation for performing at Sunday services once a month. Most of these appearances will be in Bethell Hall. Cherubs will join all choirs for 3 special services in the Historic Sanctuary (see program highlights.)

Music & Movement Choir

2d and 3d grades meet from 6-7 pm. in the adult choir room. The first 25 minutes will be given to Orff Schulwerk, learning rhythms of speech and song, transferring these to instruments. During the year we will learn Solfege (d-r-m-s-l) and corresponding Curwen handsigns, decoding and translating heard melodies and rhythms. Performing once a month in Bethell Hall with Cherub Choir and in Historic Sanctuary with Trebles. For more information contact .

Treble Choir
Grades 4 – 8 meet form 6-7 pm in Bethell Hall. This older group will ...beginning sight reading, writing musical notqtion, vocal development, part singing. Singing in solfege will be a regular part of learning new music. Participating and performing twice a month in the Historic Sanctuary. Trebles will be singing hymns of the day, descants for these hymns, anthems performed alone and with adult choir. For more information, contact .