Program Structure
In-School Choir Program
The In-School Choir Program serves 3,800+ students, approximately 76% of whom come from low-income households, in 92 Chicago schools. In-School Program participants fully explore the expressive qualities of music while developing a sense of self-discipline, pride and intercultural understanding. Our curriculum adheres to the National Standards for Music Education.
Neighborhood Choir Program
The Neighborhood Choir Program provides beginning and intermediate ensemble training to 900+ students through after-school programming in 11 Chicago neighborhoods. Through numerous performances and civic appearances within their communities and across the city, young people become ambassadors of their neighborhoods.
Dimension
Dimension is a unique ensemble for young singers with changing or changed voices. Training and repertoire are specifically designed to guide the vocal transition while performance opportunities help to build confidence and showcase singers’ skills.
Voice of Chicago
Voice of Chicago is a premier mixed-voice ensemble of 100+ students who serve as musical ambassadors across our city and around the globe. This ensemble maintains an extensive performance schedule that includes touring and collaborations with Chicago’s finest cultural institutions and world-renowned artists.
Voice of Chicago is presented by Allstate.
April - May 2020
Voices of Today
CCC creates virtual connections with cultural leaders
CCC’s Voices of Today series featured virtual conversations with creative and inclusive leaders in the community, including alumni of the Choir and internationally renowned artists. A total of 15 episodes aired throughout spring, recreating powerful opportunities to build empathy, confidence and resilience through thoughtful conversations moderated by CCC singers and staff.
“It's the Choir which has taught me to tread carefully, but certainly and persistently. Nowhere else have I had access to a diverse and multicultural family like the Choir. Nowhere else have I breathed in unison with the brothers, sisters, family around me and tried to feel their joy, their pain, their lives as they are carried to my ears by the most inspiring and empowering music.”
— Albert Kerelis, Singers Council President & member of Voice of Chicago
FY20 Program Enrollment
CCC Represents Singers Across the City
4,863
School & Community Partnerships
community growth
CCC Community and Neighborhood Expansion: Bucktown
In fall 2019, Bucktown Neighborhood Choir became CCC’s eleventh Neighborhood Choir, made possible by generous contributions to the $12 million comprehensive Raising Voices Campaign. In just a few months, 54 singers had expanded their worldview through multicultural repertoire and connection with young people they might not otherwise meet.
Where We Work
Choir Program Partners 2019-20
Chicago Children’s Choir provides music education programming to 92 schools, 11 community locations, and 1 downtown location.
In-School Program Partners
Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts
A. N. Pritzker Elementary School
Alfred Nobel Elementary School
Anna R. Langford Community Academy
Annie Keller Regional Gifted Center
Arnold Mireles Elementary Academy
Arthur E. Canty Elementary School
Asa Philip Randolph Elementary School *
Belmont-Cragin Elementary School
Benjamin E. Mays Academy
Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School
Bret Harte Elementary School
Catalyst Charter Elementary School - Maria
Catalyst Elementary School - Circle Rock
Charles R. Henderson Elementary School
Chicago Homeschool Choir
Chicago International Charter School - Irving Park
Chicago International Charter School - Prairie
Cyrus H. McCormick Elementary School
Daniel Boone Elementary School
Disney II Magnet School
Donald Morrill Math & Science Elementary School
Drummond Montessori School
Ella Flagg Young Elementary School
Enrico Tonti Elementary School
Francis W. Parker Elementary Community Academy
Frank W. Gunsaulus Elementary Scholastic Academy
George Armstrong International Studies ES
George B. Swift Elementary Specialty School
George Rogers Clark Elementary School
George W. Tilton Elementary School
Nathan Hale Elementary School
Nathan S. Davis Elementary School
George Washington Carver Primary School
Gresham School of Excellence
Horace Greeley Elementary School
Hurley Fine and Performing Arts Magnet School
Inter-American Elementary Magnet School
Intercultural Montessori Language School
Jackie Robinson Elementary School
Jesse Sherwood Elementary School
John A. Walsh Elementary School
John C. Burroughs Elementary School
John Greenleaf Whittier Elementary School
John H. Vanderpoel Elementary Magnet School
John Harvard Elementary School of Excellence
John J. Pershing Elementary Humanities Magnet
John Spry Elementary Community School
Jordan Elementary Community School
Jose De Diego Elementary Community Academy
Joseph Jungman Elementary School
Joseph Kellman Corporate Community ES
Joseph Lovett Elementary School
Joshua D. Kershaw Elementary School
Kate S. Kellogg Elementary School
KIPP Bloom College Prep
Kozminski Community Academy
LaSalle Elementary Language Academy
LaSalle II Magnet Elementary School
Lazaro Cardenas Elementary School
Lionel Hampton Fine and Performing Arts
Louis Nettelhorst Elementary School
Mildred I Lavizzo Elementary School
Milton Brunson Math & Science Specialty School
Mount Vernon Elementary School
New Field Elementary School
North River Elementary School
Ogden International School of Chicago - East Campus
Ogden International School of Chicago - Jenner Campus
Old St. Mary's School *
Orville T. Bright Elementary School
Passages Charter School
Peter Cooper Elementary Dual Language Academy
Philip Rogers Elementary School
Phillip Murray Elementary Language Academy
Plato Learning Academy *
Richard Henry Lee Elementary School
Sir Miles Davis Magnet Elementary Academy
St. Philip Neri Catholic School
The Montessori School of Englewood
Thomas A. Edison Regional Gifted Center Elementary
Thomas J. Higgins Elementary Community Academy
Wendell E. Green Elementary School
West Park Academy of Fine Arts and Technology
Wildwood World Magnet Elementary School
William C. Reavis Math & Science Specialty ES
William G. Hibbard Elementary School
William H. Prescott Elementary School
William H. Ray Elementary School
William P. Nixon Elementary School
Woodlawn Community Elementary School
* New January 2020 Partner
Neighborhood Program Partners
Albany Park
North Park Covenant Church
Austin
Austin Branch, Chicago Public Library
Beverly
Beverly Arts Center
Bucktown
Moadon Kol Chadash
Englewood
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church
Garfield Park/Off The Street Club
Off The Street Club
Humboldt Park
Casa Central
Hyde Park
First Unitarian Church of Chicago
Lincoln Park/DePaul
Holtschneider Performance Center, DePaul University
Pilsen/Little Village
Arturo Velasquez Institute
Rogers Park
Indian Boundary Park
city of chicago partner
Dimension and Voice of Chicago
Chicago Cultural Center
Artistic Collaborations
July 2019
Bernstein’s MASS at Ravinia with Chicago Symphony Orchestra
In July 2019, nearly 150 members of the CCC artistic family performed in Ravinia Festival’s encore presentation of Leonard Bernstein’s MASS with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Renowned conductor Marin Alsop led Neighborhood Choir and Voice of Chicago members in this musical theatre masterwork.
November 2019
Gandhi Tribute - I Sing For Change
Kalapriya Center for Indian Performing Arts and CCC celebrated Gandhi’s global influence in I Sing for Change: Mahatma Gandhi’s Spiritual Journey.
Kalapriya’s collaborating artist, Dr. Gowri Ramnarayan, worked with CCC’s Voice of Chicago, Carnatic vocalists Roopa Mahadevan and Shiv Subramaniam and other accompanists to convey, through music, Gandhi’s spirituality at various stages of his life. The 85-minute program featured songs about resisting injustice and the importance of community and compassion, demonstrating Gandhi’s continued relevance today.
I Sing for Change: Mahatma Gandhi’s Spiritual Journey was supported in part by Mridu & Chandra Sekhar.
2019-2020
Lyric Opera of Chicago
November 2019: Dead Man Walking
February - March 2020: The Queen of Spades
This season, select Neighborhood Choir singers had the opportunity to perform in inspiring artistic collaborations through performances with Lyric Opera of Chicago. Singers participated in Lyric’s productions of Tchaikovsky's romantic thriller, The Queen of Spades, and the modern masterwork, Dead Man Walking by Jake Heggie.
CCC singers backstage on opening night of Lyric Opera's production of The Queen of Spades.
CCC singers backstage on opening night of Lyric Opera's production of Dead Man Walking.
CCC singers backstage on opening night of Lyric Opera's production of Dead Man Walking.
Programs from Lyric Opera’s production of Dead Man Walking featuring CCC as the children’s chorus.