 |
> Join Us - Sing with BYC |
| > Book Us - Arrange a Concert | |
| > Contact Us - Get more info | |
Mission & HistoryFounded by Artistic Director Dianne Berkun, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy (BYCA) began in 1992 as a group of 45 children rehearsing in a donated space in downtown Brooklyn. By 2002 BYCA had evolved into a voice-based music academy and had purchased, renovated and moved into its own beautiful building in Cobble Hill. Today, BYCA is an internationally acclaimed, GRAMMY® Award-winning organization where 250 students come each week to study, perform, and work together as an artistic community. At BYCA, students acquire music skills and gain confidence and self-esteem through training and performance in four progressively advanced ensembles. All choristers attend group rehearsal classes and participate in ensemble performances, and many take individual voice and instrument lessons through BYCA’s extensive electives program. Choristers study and perform a wide range of music—classical and non-classical—and BYCA has established an active commissioning program to develop new works for youth chorus across a variety of genres. Commissioned composers include Fred Hersch, Andrew Lippa, Nico Muhly, Kirk Nurock, James MacMillan, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Jackson Berkey and Daniel Brewbaker. While based in Brooklyn, BYCA students are drawn from throughout New York City, with the resulting chorister body reflecting the city’s economic, racial and ethnic diversity. An active scholarship program makes BYCA accessible to all students regardless of ability to pay. Dedicated to its founding principles of Artistry, Diversity and Community, the Academy helps young people from all backgrounds realize their potential as musicians and as individuals. The Brooklyn Youth Chorus (BYC) is BYCA’s advanced performing ensemble. BYC is one of the country’s leading children’s choruses and is the ensemble of choice for collaborations with internationally renowned orchestras and artists. BYC has received wide acclaim from audiences, music critics and peers alike, and has been praised as “thriving and accomplished,” “innately musical” and “angelic” in its sound. BYC received its GRAMMY® Award in 2005 (Best Classical Album) for its 2002 debut performance with the New York Philharmonic in John Adams’ On the Transmigration of Souls. BYC has sung in many memorable premieres by leading artists, including the North American premiere of Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 5 with the Brooklyn Philharmonic under Dennis Russel Davies in 2002, the 2003 New York premiere of Adams’ El Niño with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and the New York premiere of Lorin Maazel's The Empty Pot with the maestro conducting. Other orchestral highlights include the Chorus’s performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with the Collegiate Chorale and The Orchestra of St. Luke’s; Britten's War Requiem with the Juilliard Orchestra; Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and Karol Szymanowski’s King Roger with L’Orchestra symphonique de Montréal; Hector Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust with the New York Philharmonic and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 with the Brooklyn Philharmonic. In 2004 the Chorus recorded Philip Glass’ music for the film Undertow, released on CD by Orange Mountain Music, and performed five shows with Elton John and his band at Radio City Music Hall which have been broadcast repeatedly on the Bravo television network. In recent years the Chorus has also performed with renowned artists such as Judy Collins, Andrea Boccelli, Lara Fabian, Monica, Debra Cox, P.O.D., Ray Davies and the Mark Morris Dance Group. Television appearances have included The Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Celebration and the Martha Stewart Home for the Holidays Christmas Special. BYC choristers (ages 11–18) have toured Russia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany, and have performed at prestigious venues in the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Madison Square Garden and the White House. In 2001, BYC earned the gold medal at the prestigious Johannes Brahms International Choral Festival and Competition in Wernigerode, Germany, and performed to standing ovations at Eastern Division conventions of the American Choral Directors Association in both 2002 and 2004. |
"In my opinion, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus is one of the best around. Their perfect intonation as well as their excellent musicianship touched the hearts of the audience and I hope to have the opportunity of working with this wonderful chorus again."
|