Chorus Life
Rehearsals
Our Season begins in August and ends in May.
Each choir rehearses once a week, with a few additional rehearsals before major performances. Singers are expected to attend all rehearsals. Please follow our calendar for off-days and additional rehearsals.
Our rehearsal times and locations vary by choir:
Primo Voce
Thursdays 4:15-5:45pm,
Valley Springs Church, 2401 Olympus Drive, Roseville
Intermezzo
Mondays 4:15-5:45pm
Valley Springs Church, 2401 Olympus Drive, Roseville
Bel Canto
Tuesdays 4:15-6:15pm
Valley Springs Church, 2401 Olympus Drive, Roseville
Bella Voce
Mondays 6:30-8:30pm
Eskaton, 8550 Barton Rd, Granite Bay
Vocal Instruction
Someone once said of singing in a choir, ‘as good as a voice lesson and twice as much fun” (Diana L.)
Vocal instruction is comprised of learning to take a singers’ breath, breath control, phonation, vocal placement, diction and expression. For children that means finding ways to teach those skills while singing beautiful songs, learning to read music, and performing, all taught with elements of fun and enjoyment.
Each rehearsal is filled with vocal instruction. From the opening of each rehearsal and through-out the rehearsal the singers are learning and growing in their skills of ‘bel canto” style of singing. Bel canto is a beautiful singing style that uses an open throat. Much like ballet is to dance; the classical style of training the body to move with elegant control affording the dancer the ability to then dance well in any style, bel canto singing allows the singer the healthy way to sing so that once learned, singers can perform in any style they prefer, but with healthy habits of singing.
While young singers love the pop sound they hear from their favorite artist, singing in a choir is finding that perfect blend of their unique sound combined with the experience of bringing many voices together.
Why “twice as much fun”? Singing with the NCYC is just like having a voice lesson. The difference is that you get to be with your new friends for an hour and a half doing what you all love to do, sing! If the singer is a bit shy at first, they can blend in, learn from others, and grow in confidence while still learning and practicing.
The NCYC provides healthy vocal instruction appropriate for the age and experience of the singer. Children sing like children and high school singers sing like the young women.
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Annual Retreats
Our advanced choirs, BEL CANTO and BELLA VOCE, go on weekend retreats once a year. We use this time to rehearse our music, but most importantly, for bonding and connecting as a group.
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These retreats are mandatory and are included in your tuition. This year, as in the past several years, we are holding our retreats in Diamond Arrow Christian Conference Center in Nevada City, CA.
Tours
BEL CANTO and BELLA VOCE, our middle school and high school choirs, tour both nationally and internationally and participate in major music events and festivals.
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Participation in the tours is optional and tour fee is not included in your tuition. All rehearsals and other preparations for tour are done outside of our regular season.
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Our most recent tour, in summer of 2023, has been to Austria and Prague. In previous years we have toured to Eugene OR for the Pacific International Choral Festival (Picfest) (2016), to New York City where we sang at Carnegie Hall (2017, 2020), to San Francisco where we sang at Grace Cathedral (2017), to England in Wales (2018), and to Chicago, IL (2022).
Honor Choirs
Honor chois are held each year through different choral organizations. Singers submit audition material including a solo, prescribed vocal exercises as well as a piece they must learn. The auditions are blind, so the adjudicators do not know names, age, or their choir affiliation. NCYC singers have been accepted to the American Choral Director's Association (ACDA) Honor Choirs every year at the regional and national levels. In 2023, NCCC was represented with two singers in the elementary choir, three in the middle school choir, and four in the high school choirs.
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Past singers have noted this honor on their college applications and we would like to think it helped them to get into Brown University, Boston University, UCLA and UC San Diego to name a few.
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Every singer is encouraged to audition as that experience alone is helpful in their growth as a performer, a musician and teaching of life-skills.
