They learn accuracy when they follow their music director’s hands through a series of meter and dynamic changes.

They learn patience when, after many rehearsals, they finally begin to appreciate or "grow into" a piece of music.

They learn respect when they receive it from hundreds of people—friends, family, grown-ups and children alike—who gather in an auditorium and listen to their performance silently and mindfully.

Dear parents.

Choir develops skill as well as creativity. Students will learn basic singing skills such as breathing techniques, pitch and intonation, harmony, rhythm, tone, and diction. Most importantly, I teach students to read musical notation. Even budding pop singers need this foundation! Beyond this, students exercise creativity in bringing the notes on the page to life. The individual members of a choir must collaborate on volume, articulation, phrasing, and the words in order to make the audience feel every emotion. The wonderful thing about choral music is that each student has the chance to express what a song means.

Choir requires discipline. It takes concentration to control your voice, to listen to those around you, to blend in, and to watch the conductor constantly. It takes self-control to behave professionally on stage, to exhibit audience etiquette, and to remain mentally engaged for an entire performance. These are skills that every student needs to conquer along the path to adulthood. Nevertheless, students truly feel a thrill from performing and want to do it again and again!

This choice can affect your child’s high school experience as well as their long-term future. Choirs are everywhere in our society, and students that join choir are likely to continue participating in choirs for the rest of their lives. In college, regardless of what major your child chooses, he or she might join a university choir to keep life well-rounded and balanced. Throughout his or her adult life, your child can always be part of a community chorus, a church choir, or even an opera chorus on the weekends. Or they might just sing along with the radio on their way to work. Even when you stop singing for a few years, it’s always easy to start again—it’s just like riding a bike! Singing can be a part of your life forever.

How do you and your child decide if choir is right for them? If he or she already has a natural talent for singing, they should definitely be in choir (this can go for girls as well as boys; I’ve heard many wonderful boys’ voices during rotations). Parents sometimes ask whether choir is good for those who enjoy singing but are a little shy or not interested in solo performance. The beauty of choir is that every student can find a place in choir. Every voice matters, big or small. By listening to others and listening to themselves, every choir member becomes better and more confident. Students can feel powerful by being a part of a big group making sounds that are impossible to create individually. You don’t have to have an amazing solo voice to be a great choir member!

Choir members work together to create something rare and beautiful. As Garrison Keillor of A Prarie Home Companion recently said, "To sing like this, in the company of other souls, and to make those consonants slip out so easily and in unison, and to make those chords so rich that they bring tears to your eyes . . . this is transcendence. This is the power that choral singing has that other music can only dream of." I encourage you and your child to consider joining the Davis Singing Marauders to experience this firsthand!