Chicago Children’s Choir (CCC), a nonprofit organization that inspires and unites youth from diverse backgrounds to become global leaders through music, will present their annual Black History Month concert series, at the Harris Theater (205 E. Randolph St.) from February 7-9, 2022. The concert will also be presented virtually.
This year’s focus for the concert is Remembering, Reclaiming, Reconnecting. Participants in CCC’s school program will unite with the world-renowned Voice of Chicago for a dynamic educational program celebrating the vast and vivacious culture of the African Diaspora. This cornerstone tradition, curated by resident Director of Africana Studies Lonnie Norwood, returns this year to salute Africana music and its indelible impact on Chicago and the world, featuring music from Nigeria, Peru, Jamaica, and the United States.
“We honor Dr. Carter G. Woodson’s founding principles of black history, which chiefly call us to commemorate the lives and contributions of people of African descent globally after year-long curricular studies,” Mr. Norwood said. “We return to the concert series annually because of our ceaseless commitment to augment Africana history and representation in our community.”
In fact, the Choir was founded in Hyde Park neighborhood in direct response to the Civil Rights Movement in 1956 and has since grown from one choir into a vast network of in-school and after-school programs, impacting the lives of more than 50,000 diverse youth throughout its 65-year history.
About Chicago Children’s Choir
Founded in Hyde Park in direct response to the Civil Rights Movement in 1956, Chicago Children’s Choir (CCC) has grown from one choir into a vast network of in-school and after-school programs driven by one mission: to inspire and change lives through music. CCC has impacted the lives of more than 50,000 diverse youth throughout its 64-year history. Since its founding, CCC has focused on building programs that reflect the racial and economic diversity of Chicago. Eighty percent of youth served are from low-moderate income homes, with over 4,000 students annually participating completely free of charge. All singers in CCC programs receive some level of subsidy. High school seniors enrolled in CCC have a 100% graduation rate, becoming global ambassadors who carry on CCC’s core values in a wide array of professional fields.
Under the leadership of President and Artistic Director Josephine Lee, Chicago Children’s Choir has achieved new heights and revolutionized the youth choral arts through innovative creative partnerships and new artistic endeavors. The Choir collaborated with GRAMMY Award-winning music director and producer Peter CottonTale on his original song “Together” for Google’s 2020 Year in Search video, which went viral with more than 230 million views. Other recent projects include the PBS national broadcast of the new staged production of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS under the direction of Marin Alsop in July 2018 and 2019 with two frequent creative partners: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Ravinia Festival; Lyric Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking and Tchaikovsky’s romantic thriller The Queen of Spades with select Chicago Children’s Choir singers cast as the children’s chorus; the world-premiere hip-hop musical Long Way Home, written and directed by the renowned Q Brothers Collective, which played to five sold-out houses in 2018; and collaboration on Chance the Rapper’s debut studio album The Big Day (2019) as well as a collaboration on his GRAMMY Award-winning Coloring Book (2016) studio recording and tour performances. CCC has served as a model for youth choirs across the country including Boston Children’s Chorus, Denver Children’s Choir and Indianapolis Children’s Choir.
Learn more at ccchoir.org.