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Alumni UpdatesRead about BYCA Graduates - where they are now and the impact of their Chorus experiences. Name: Sasha Nutgent BYCA Alum: 2004
Name: Melanie Charles
By her sophomore year at LaGuardia, Melanie was awarded the Student Soprano Scholarship to study at a six-week summer program organized by SUNY Fredonia’s School of Music, where she was named “Best First Soprano.” In fact, she has received many musical honors, including the recent ASCAP/Boosey & Hawkes Young Composers Award. As a composer, Melanie has created experimental music for WQXR Radio, classical music that was premiered by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s (which The New York Times referred to as “recalling late Beethoven”) and even a popular song that was featured on the television show American Idol Extra. Melanie has traveled to Russia and Germany with the Brooklyn Youth chorus and this summer has toured Italy as a featured artist with the New York-based Ronald McIntintyre Quintet. Name: Katie Dutko Post-BYCA: Attending Dartmouth College to study Linguistics, History, Anthopology and Education. Sings in the Dartmouth Women’s Ensemble and founded an a cappella group on campus; serves as the Music Coordinator at the Concordia Language Villages immersion program for French. How would you describe BYCA to others? “As a group that gave me many opportunities – performances all over New York City, travel, recording – and really let me take advantage of the cultural life in the city where I grew up.” Name: Xavier Moses Post-BYCA: Attended Brooklyn College 2005-06; now attending the University of South Carolina to study Music Performance. Sings bass-baritone and tenor in the University choirs, and is learning guitar and piano. Describe how your time at BYCA prepared you for school/work/life: “It gave me confidence. It showed me that if I put myself out there positive things can and will happen.” Name: Theadora Paulucci Post-BYCA: Attending Mount Holyoke College to study American Studies and Music. Sings in the Mount Holyoke College Glee Club; takes music classes and attends concerts regularly. Describe a memorable BYCA experience: “When BYCA sang with the New York Philharmonic in On the Transmigration of Souls by John Adams, I clearly remember being on the dimmed stage and watching Loren Maazel conduct fervently; the orchestra playing with such heavy emotion; and people in the audience watching with such rapture. When we finished singing through the last phrases, I vividly recall the risers we were standing on were shaking because we had poured our hearts and souls into singing, weakening us to near exhaustion by the end. I felt like I couldn’t stand up afterwards. Everybody on stage connected with and meant what they were playing or singing. I don’t think I’ve ever meant anything more while singing, and I don’t think I ever will. I have BYCA to thank for that.” Name: Chris Choudhry Post-BYCA: Attending Long Island University – Brooklyn Campus. Plays piano, guitar and organ at his church every Sunday during Mass. What would you like share about yourself? I would like to thank BYCA for everything that I was able to accomplish, see, and all that I’ve learned. BYCA is a big part of my life, and I’m glad that I was fortunate enough to be a part of this amazing organization. I started singing with BYCA when I was five years old, when we were still at Pierrepont Street. I grew up with BYCA, and when I read updates on the chorus, I’m proud to say that I’m an alumnus.” Name: Neferkara Aaron Post-BYCA: Attending SUNY Plattsburgh to study Speech Pathology and Spanish. Which was your favorite BYCA tour and why? “The England and Wales tour. The best part of the trip was the competition, staying at the monastery, and meeting the teenagers at the local high school. It was very exciting to see that my peers shared the same intense love of music as I do.” Name: Amy Piller Post-BYCA: Attending Brown University to study English and Creative Writing. What would you like share about yourself? “I loved BYC. Being so intimately involved with music really encouraged and inspired my continuing interest in writing.” Name: Lyn Muhleisen Post-BYCA: Attending the Baruch College Honors Program to study Public Affairs and English; is applying for a Fulbright Scholarship to study international relations in the European Union. How BYCA impacted your career decisions: “The real benefit to me was several international music festivals and competitions that allowed me to sing and share meals alongside other young people from around the world, and observe and participate in their customs.” Name: Janelle Reid Post-BYCA: Attended Saint Francis College to study Elementary Education and Social Studies; recently completed a Masters degree in Early Childhood Special Education at the Bank Street College of Education. Currently sings in her church’s choir and is acting as the Interim Director for the church’s youth choir. How would you describe BYCA to others? “BYCA was an amazing experience. The quality and maturity of my singing voice developed an incredible amount throughout my five years there. I also participated in performances and tours that most people do not experience in their lifetime.” Name: Shimeeka Foy Post-BYCA: Attended John Jay College to study Forensic Psychology; now attending York College to study Geology and Health Education. Describe a memorable BYCA experience: “Learning how to read music in my first year! It was an experience that I wrote my college admissions essay on, and won me a creative writing award.” Name: Gabrielle Too-A-Foo Post-BYCA: Attending George Washington University to study International Affairs. Describe a memorable BYCA experience: “Being a part of the memorial performance for 9/11 helped me feel even more connected with the other choristers.” Name: Charles Keilin Post-BYCA: Attending high school in New York City. Sings in school chorus and performs as a soloist. Describe a memorable BYCA experience: “Singing On the Transmigration of Souls at Avery Fisher Hall on the night of my Bar Mitzvah.” Name: Danielle Robinson Post-BYCA: Attending City College of New York to study Pre-Med. What advice would you give to current choristers thinking about pursuing music after BYCA? “I would advise them to take advantage of the opportunity. Music is a very sacred, mind-blowing experience that enhances your life.” Name: Erica Stone Post-BYCA: Attending Wagner College to study Anthropology and Spanish; also sailed around the world on the Semester-At-Sea program, and attended CUNY Hunter. Are you singing now? In what capacity? “I earned a vocal scholarship from Wagner College. I actively participate in the college choir there and take private voice lessons.” Name: Khadijah Bermiss Post-BYCA: Attending Dartmouth College to study Psychology and Pre-Med. Sings in the Gospel Choir of Dartmouth College and teaches vocal parts to fellow choristers. What’s your favorite BYCA memory? “The Lil’ Romeo backup singer experience at Michael Jackson’s 30th anniversary concert.” Name: Ashley Finigan Post-BYCA: Attending Amherst College to study Black Studies and History. Sings in the Amherst Gospel Choir and took a class on Latin jazz theory/history in Spring 2006. How would you describe BYCA to others? “I describe it as my most important non-academic activity, half-joking that I was a child star. BYCA was a huge aspect of my life from ages 12-18.” Name: Daria Branch Post-BYCA: Attended Brooklyn College to study Psychology and Children’s Studies. Currently sings in her church choirs. What advice would you give to current choristers thinking about pursuing music after BYCA? “If music is your passion then definitely go for it. Don’t let anything hold you back from following your dream.” Name: Denise Hughes Post-BYCA: Attending Susquehanna University to study Theatre Arts and Diversity Studies. Is involved in campus musical theatre productions and takes private voice lessons. Describe how your time at BYCA prepared you for work/school/life: I was in BYCA for eleven years, so being involved in an ensemble was always a part of my life. That same drive and group work ethic that helped mold me in BYCA has helped tremendously in my major of Theatre. The same way that we would work together and build off each other’s energy under Dianne’s direction to bring to life the notes and words on a page, I now have to work with my cast members and our director to bring the text of a play to life.” Name: Drew Devero-Belfon Post-BYCA: Attending Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts to study voice. Attended the Summer Arts Program at Stuyvesant High School in 2006. Describe how your time at BYCA prepared you for work/school/life: “Participating in the BYCA chorus helped me gain a certain stage presence that proved to be invaluable to me when I auditioned for the vocal program at LaGuardia Arts High School, to which I was accepted.” Name: Tanishea Perry recently wrote to the BYCA staff to reflect on her experiences as a chorister and how BYCA has impacted her adult life in powerful ways. She writes: "Since leaving BYC I continued on my musical journey by attending LaGuardia High School.....Coming from a impoverished community, leaving the state of New York, or the borough of Brooklyn for that matter, would not have even been a possibility in my book. Being a part of the chorus helped me to see the world outside of my box. So much of my character was shaped by my involvement with the chorus. I became a disciplined and determined individual. I had zero confidence when I entered the chorus and in a matter of a short while I learned to accept who I am and open my mouth and let out who was within. This chorus is a wonderful experience and I wish every child had the opportunity to make beautiful music like I did at BYC." - Tanishea
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Sasha believes that her time at the Brooklyn Youth Chorus was the best seven years of her life. BYC not only impacted her as a musician, but also as a young woman; she entered BYC as "a timid girl," she says, but "left as a confident young woman" and made many lifelong friends. Sasha's admissions essay to St. John's University (to which she was accepted) was about the Chorus' trip to Russia and how Dianne Berkun, Matthew Brady and the rest of the artistic staff opened her eyes to the opportunities available to her because of her talent and hard work. She's now signed to SIRI Music, is developing her first record and has been working alongside several major recording artists in the industry today. 
Freshly returned from a concert tour in Italy, BYCA alum Melanie Charles is continuing her studies at the New School University for Jazz and Contemporary Studies. An acclaimed jazz, gospel and R & B vocalist, as well as a composer and a talented flutist, Melanie first began her musical studies at BYCA at the age of seven. Many will remember Melanie as BYCA’s first jazz soloist, premiering composer Kirk Nurock’s “Na Na Na” with the Concert Chorus at the 2002 American Choral Directors’ Association conference in Pittsburg (who could forget our three standing ovations!). Melanie went on to study at LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, majoring in flute studies, but still considers BYCA to be her “first musical love” and the source of her solid musical underpinning. Melanie’s Haitian-born mother, Maryse Jean-Baptiste, was raised with a “love and understanding for music,” which she clearly transferred to Melanie and her brother Rogerst, who also studied at BYCA. Says Maryse, “At BYCA students don’t just learn songs . . . they learn sight-reading skills and a deep understanding of music that translates to all instruments and gives them an advantage as performers.”