THE CAS CHORUS NEWSLETTER!

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Kory Simpson
9 years ago
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1 THE CAS CHORUS NEWSLETTER! What s Inside: Spring/Summer 2015 Chorus & Radio City Chorus & Joe s Pub Chorus & 54 Below Chorus & Lower East Side Festival of the Arts Chorus & The Harlem Arts Festival Chorus & Good Morning America Chorus & Public Works Chorus & The Odyssey Happy Summer! What a year we ve had! Our CAS Chorus has worked so hard over the past 12 months, and as a result, we ve had so many opportunities come our way. Before we learn about all the incredible events the Chorus participated in this year, I m so excited to announce that our 100% success rate of every CAS Chorus graduate continuing on to college is unbroken! This year, we have SIX high school graduates who are off to college in the fall. A huge congratulations to: Andrea Olivares NYU, majoring in Communicative Sciences and Disorders Timolyn Benton Long Island University, majoring in Humanities Zakiya DeRoche SUNY Potsdam, majoring in Music Management / Business Administration Dominique DeLisle Ithaca College, majoring in Mathematics and Economics Jasmine Ude Syracuse University, majoring in Music Industry Genesis Perdomo Hunter College, majoring in Arts and Humanities Previous graduates continue their studies at: UVA (Brianna Cabrerra); Columbia University (Eva Stanton, and a CAS Chorus graduate from 2010, Chelsea Katz, will begin her masters in Education at Columbia this Fall); Hunter College (Mayelyn Perdomo); Molloy College (Joelly Quezada); NYU (Clarimar Capellan); John Jay (Pearl Morton-Scott); UCLA (Aaliyah Frasier) Read on to see what we ve been up to!

America Chorus & Public Works Chorus & The Odyssey Happy Summer! What a year we ve had!

2 CAS Chorus Newsletter Page 2 C H O R U S & R A D I O C I T Y M U S I C H A L L! Once again, the amazing ladies of the CAS Chorus were invited to perform on the big stage of Radio City Music Hall for the Garden of Dreams Foundation s Annual Talent Show! And, for the first time ever, one of our singers was a featured soloist! Our group performed a mash-up of Lose Yourself and Chandelier, and Idania Quezada and her sister Joelly Quezada (a former Chorus member and current college student!) performed the beautiful ballad Youth. Idania and Joelly participated in master classes with Broadway star Christina Sajous (Spiderman The Musical), and musician Ezra Koening (Vampire Weekend). It was an unbelivable night that we will never forget! Check out the performance here: youtu.be/k-momzvly70

And, for the first time ever, one of our singers was a featured soloist!

3 CAS Chorus Newsletter Page 3 C H O R U S & J OE S P UB! April 17 th found us on stage at Joe s Pub for our Annual Spring Fundraiser! What an incredible honor to perform on such an iconic music stage and to share our hard work with friends and family. We were joined on stage by musician Frances Cone, singer Michael Roberts, and Broadway and television star Ciara Renee (CW s Legends of Tomorrow). These singers inspired us with their knock-out performances. We rocked out the stage with everything from musical theater to jazz and contemporary pop. A night to remember, thank you to everyone who came out to support the Chorus! C H O R U S & 54 B E L O W! Inspired by the professionalism of our young singers, Ciara Renee invited us to join her concert at 54 Below on Friday May 15 th, entitled Lady Boss. This iconic New York stage has been graced by every major Broadway star, and now, our lovely CAS Chorus can count themselves amongst the legends! A huge thank you to the unbelievably talented Ciara Renee who blew us away with her vocals during the show WOW! An inspiring night for us all! C H O R U S & L O W E R E A S T S I D E A R T S F E S T I V A L! In May, the CAS Chorus headed down to the LES to sing on the 19 th annual Lower East Side Festival of the Arts. We sang to a packed house of families, who showered us with applause and cheers after our set. A fun afternoon!

We were joined on stage by musician Frances Cone, singer Michael Roberts, and Broadway and television star Ciara Renee (CW s Legends of Tomorrow).

4 CAS Chorus Newsletter Page 4 C H O R U S & T HE H A R L E M A R T S F E S T I V A L! Yet another amazing opportunity came our way when rock star Divinity Roxx invited the CAS Chorus to join her onstage at the Harlem Arts Festival in June. Divinity is a fierce musician, and has toured around the world playing bass for none other than Beyonce! We sang Divinity s inspirational song against gun violence called We Are. The rain poured down at the venue, but Divinity and the Chorus brought the sunshine in with their powerful vocals. C H O R U S & G O O D M O R N I N G A M E R I C A! We were on TV in July! The CAS Chorus was featured in a story on Good Morning America about a charity started by a 12-year old boy in California called Kids And Smiles. Their work involves bringing kids into hospitals to visit sick children and help them connect with the arts. The CAS Chorus visited the children at New York Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children s Hospital, and performed a concert that was broadcast throughout the hospital. We also visited one little girl in her hospital room who was too sick to come to the concert. It was a beautiful morning, and a wonderful way to reach out into our community. You can see the segment here: tinyurl.com/pxwtbck Thanks to the amazing Divinity Roxx for demonstrating true professionalism and incredible musicianship for our singers! We look very forward to a continuing mentor relationship with Divinity. C H O R U S & P U B L I C W O R K S! This year we had the honor to work with Louis Chavez on choreography for our mash-up of Lose Yourself and Chandelier. Public Works sent us the amazing Louis and he crafted the perfect physicality to capture the spirit of our piece. Louis was instrumental in getting our group chosen for Radio City. Thank you Louis! The Public Works Ambassador program also provided several Chorus members with rare tickets to the phenomenal new musical Hamilton THANK YOU Public Works!!

Divinity is a fierce musician, and has toured around the world playing bass for none other than Beyonce! We sang Divinity s inspirational song against gun violence called We Are.

5 CAS Chorus Newsletter Page 5 C H O R U S & T H E O D Y S S E Y! Surely after the year we ve had, we re taking a break for the summer, right? Nope!! The Chorus is thrilled to be back performing with The Public Theater s Public Works program this summer at the Delacorte Theater! The Chorus will be performing in a new musical version of Homer s The Odyssey, conceived and directed by Lear DeBessonet with book, music and lyrics by Todd Almond. This year there will be four performances, beginning September 4 th and running through September 7 th. We ve started rehearsing already, and trust us, you won t want to miss this show! Hope to see you in the park! D O N A T E! Help us continue our musical dreams by donating today! Any amount is helpful. Checks can be made out to: The Children s Aid Society Chorus, and sent to: 885 Columbus Ave NYC G E T I N T O U C H! For more information about the Chorus, or just to say hi, please contact us at: The Children s Aid Society Frederick Douglass Center 885 Columbus Ave NYC (212) / Kelly Campbell, Director [email protected] Wishing you a wonderful summer!

The Chorus will be performing in a new musical version of Homer s The Odyssey, conceived and directed by Lear DeBessonet with book, music and lyrics by Todd Almond.

Rock-N-Happy Heart: The Devotional By Yancy. by Yancy

Rock-N-Happy Heart: The Devotional By Yancy by Yancy 1 73 Day 1-Dreams Will Come True Once upon a time a long time ago, I was a little girl with a dream. I loved to sing. (My parents have told that me