Northwest Choirs - Northwest Boychoir & Vocalpoint! Seattle Programs
At the heart of the Northwest Choir is a rigorous education program focusing on music theory, voice production, sight singing and performance skills. Members rehearse year-round, attend weekend training retreats, participate in summer camps, and tour nationally and internationally. The impact of our program on these young people is enormous. Many join as first graders and advance through the levels of the program during their critical middle and high school years. While growing as skilled musicians, our members develop lifelong friendships outside their own schools and neighborhoods, and acquire essential life skills and traits of teamwork, discipline and commitment.
The Northwest Choirs maintains an annual enrollment of 200+ members representing 115 diverse public and private schools in the Puget Sound region. Our members range in age from 6 to 18, and include both young boys (6-18) and girls (12-18) who typically represent the demographics of the community at large. The Northwest Choirs is committed to making its programs available to all young people regardless of financial circumstances.
Officially designated the “Singing Ambassadors” of Washington State, the Choir has performed around the world and throughout the United States. The Choir maintains strong collaborative relationships with Seattle's choral and orchestral performing groups, including the Seattle Symphony. When soundtrack composers need the unique boychoir sound, they often turn to the Northwest Boychoir whose professional talents are featured on films and video game soundtracks.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
The Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle is an essential part of the cultural fabric of the Puget Sound community and collaborates often with the Seattle Symphony, Music of Remembrance and other professional groups. The Northwest Boychoir appeared with the Seattle Symphony recently in performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina burana and Damnation of Faust. The Choir closed the season with its popular 34-year tradition of A Festival of Lessons & Carols at Benaroya Hall, presented by the Seattle Symphony in December. The Northwest Boychoir will perform with the Seattle Symphony in Britten’s War Requiem as part of Chorus America in June before embarking on a two-week concert tour of the Southern East Coast where they will be featured in the prestigious Eastern Music Festival. Together with the Ladies of Vocalpoint! Seattle, the Northwest Boychoir shared a 2009 Grammy nomination with the Seattle Symphony for a recording of Samuel Jones’ The Shoe Bird.
The Northwest Choirs Financial Aid Fund (known as the Lee Raines Memorial Fund) is an integral part of our mission to provide programs to all eligible youth, regardless of their family's ability to pay. In 2012 we provided nearly $70,000 in tuition and summer music camp assistance for families who could not have otherwise participated. The Northwest Choirs remains committed to this rising need and the board and staff is constantly looking for ways to grow fundraising and individual giving to keep tuition affordable.