Youth Choir & Voice for Life

Directed by Jenny Anderson.

The Youth Choir welcomes 5th through 12th graders to participate in the music program at United Church! Youth Choir rehearsals take place on Sunday afternoons (September through May) at 12:30 pm. Lunch is provided by choir parents at 12 pm, to create a seamless transition for the Middle and High School students to take part in all morning activities (worship, Sunday School and Youth Group).

The Youth Choir provides the music for the 8:45 service approximately one Sunday per month during the school year, as well as at all special Youth Services. They also join with the Chancel and Children’s Choirs for the annual service of Lessons and Carols during Advent, and periodically perform special major works with the Chancel Choir, such as Vivaldi’s Gloria.

The Youth Choir has an active program of pool parties and other social events, travel, workshops, fundraisers, retreats and concerts spread over the course of the year. Recent trips have included Festival-by-the-Sea in Myrtle Beach (2017), Montreat Music and Worship Conference (2016, 2017), Royal School of Church Music Summer Training Courses (2014 and 2015), and Nation’s Capital Festival of Youth Choirs (2013 and 2015).

Plans for the coming year include Festival By the Sea, Myrtle Beach, March 2-4, 2018, and Worship and Music Conference, Montreat, June 17-23, 2018. Subsidies and scholarships for trips are offered to all members through the choir’s fundraising.

The UCCH Youth Choir collaborates with several other Chapel Hill churches to present an annual benefit concert each May. Concerts in past years have benefitted Table (2015), Be Loud Sophie! (2016) and the Refugee Support Center (2017). The next Benefit Concert will be held on May 7, 2018 at Binkley Baptist Church.

Voice for Life (Musicianship classes)

United Church of Chapel Hill is an affiliate of the Royal School of Church Music. Among the resources provided by RSCM is a graded curriculum, Voice for Life, that trains choristers to be well-rounded and knowledgeable church musicians. Through participation in choir and music theory classes and completion of practical and written assignments, these choristers learn good vocal technique and diction, music skills and understanding, musical and historical context of the choral repertoire, the singer’s role in the choir, and the choir’s role in Christian worship.

The Voice for Life curriculum is divided into 4 levels, identified by the colors light blue, dark blue, red and yellow. Completion of a level is marked by the awarding of a ribbon of the corresponding color on which the chorister wears the RSCM medallion.

Children’s Choir members from 3rd grade up and all Youth Choir members are welcome (but not required) to attend a one-hour session on Sundays at 1:30pm to receive instruction in the Voice for Life curriculum and piano. This session takes place immediately after Youth Choir rehearsals.