History

The mission of the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir is to provide a choral program exemplifying artistic and educational excellence for children from diverse backgrounds. The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir contributes to the community’s cultural environment by providing opportunities to experience the unique beauty of professionally trained young voices.

The Fort Wayne Children’s Choir is recognized as one of the finest choirs in the nation because of the excellence of its musical education, the diversity of its membership and the quality of its contributions to the community’s cultural life.

In 1973, Jocelyn Basse created the Children of Peace Choristers to meet need for an extra-curricular choral opportunity for area youth. Incorporated in 1984 as the Fort Wayne Children’s Choir (FWCC), the FWCC has expanded to nearly 300 singers from 85 schools. FWCC members not only gain exceptional music skills, but learn about history, culture, foreign language, poetry, self-esteem, team-building and leadership. Singers are brought together from numerous backgrounds to achieve a common goal—artistic and educational excellence.

Annual Concert Season

  • Choralfest Concert – August
  • Three Rivers Choral Festival - November
  • Harvest Concerts (2) – November
  • Rejoice Concerts (2) – December
  • Young Artist/Youth Chorale Concert – March
  • Spring Concert – April
  • Young People’s Concert – May

Choral/Orchestral Collaborations

  • Bach Collegium:
    • St. Matthew Passion and Bach Cantata

  • Fort Wayne Ballet:
    • A Mid-Summer Night's Dream
    • The Nutcracker

  • Fort Wayne Philharmonic:
    • Carmen - Bizet
    • The Peasants Chorus (from Eugene Onegin) - Tchaikovsky
    • Symphony 1997 – Tan Dun
    • FAME Children’s Concert
    • Holiday POPS Concerts

  • Heartland Chamber Chorale
    • Carmina Burana
    • Judas Maccabaeus
    • The Birds – commissioned work by Alice Parker

Local Performances/Collaborations

  • African American History Museum
  • Aging and In-Home Services
  • Allen County Superior Court
  • Auburn War Museum
  • AIDS Walk and Worlds AIDS Day Services
  • Allen County Courthouse Rededication
  • Arts United Arts Festival
  • Cancer Services of Allen County
  • Christ Child Festival
  • Concordia Seminary Sunday Brunch Series
  • DIDFEST
  • Downtown Holiday Lighting Ceremonies
  • Embassy Festival of Trees
  • FAME Festivals
  • First Missionary Church Music Series
  • First Presbyterian Church Music Series
  • First Wayne Street Church Music Series
  • St. Peter’s Catholic Church Music Series
  • Trinity English Lutheran Church Music Series
  • Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce
  • Fort Wayne Civic Theatre: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
  • Fort Wayne History Center
  • Fort Wayne Literacy Alliance
  • Hamilton Women Statue Dedication Ceremony
  • IPFW Summer Concert Series
  • IPFW Holiday Concerts
  • IPFW Women’s Basketball Game
  • Jefferson Pointe Tree Lighting
  • Komets Hockey and Wizards Baseball Games
  • Lincoln Museum
  • Lutheran Worship for Shut-ins Television Taping
  • Martin Luther King Day Unity Celebration
  • Memorial Coliseum Rededication Ceremony
  • Parkview Hospital Holiday Lighting Ceremony
  • PBS Christmas Show Taping
  • Pizzazz School of the Arts
  • Olympic Torch Lighting Ceremony
  • Red Cross Heroes Celebration
  • Rotary Clubs
  • Taylor University
  • Three Rivers Festival Parade
  • Turnstone Center

Convention Performances

  • American Guild of Organists Regional Convention
  • Gold Wing National Convention
  • Indiana Association of Cities and Towns State Convention
  • Indiana Music Educators State Convention
  • Indiana Power Squadron Convention
  • P.E.O. State Convention

Professional Artist Collaborations

  • Dennis DeYoung, former lead singer of STYX
  • Greg Long, Christian Artist
  • Ken Medema, Christian Artist and Composer
  • Maureen McGovern, Broadway and Jazz singer

Workshops hosted by FWCC

  • Annual FWCC Choral Music Educators Workshop presented for local music teachers.
    Nationally recognized presenters have included: Cynthia Bradford, Cindy Giebler, Ruth Dwyer, Mary Goetze, Sarah Hassler, Henry Leck, Nick Page, Barbara Sletto,Lisa Sullivan, Bruce Swank.
  • Choral Workshops with Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt, Paul Ayers
  • Workshop and Concert with Rollo Dilworth as guest composer and director

Participation in Honor Choirs – individual students

  • ACDA Regional Conventions
  • ICDA State Summer Conferences
  • IMEA All-State

Collaborations in Fort Wayne with Visiting Children’s Choirs

  • International: Canada, South Africa
    • Drakensburg Boys Choir, South Africa
    • Bach Children’s Choir, Canada
    • Guelph Youth Singers, Canada
    • St. Mary’s Children’s Choir, Canada
  • National:
    • American Boychoir
    • Cincinnati Children’s Choir
    • Columbus International Children’s Choir
    • Des Moines Children’s Chorus
    • Drakensberg Boys’ Choir, South Africa
    • Kettering Children’s Choir
  • Indiana State:
    • Adams County Children’s Choir
    • Anderson Children’s Choir
    • Huntington Children’s Choir
    • Indianapolis Children’s Choir
    • Kokomo Children’s Choir
  • Local:
    • Holy Cross Lutheran Church Junior Choir, Fort Wayne
    • Voices of Unity, Fort Wayne
    • Concordia Lutheran High School A Cappella Choir
    • Northrop High School Concert Choir

Tours: Concert Choir

  • Festival 500, St. John's, Newfoundland 2009
  • East Coast Tour: New York City, Philadelphia, York PA 2007
  • North Carolina Summer Institute of Choral Arts 2008, 2006, 2005, 2002, 2000
  • Pacific Rim International Festival, Hawaii 2005
  • Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival, Oregon 2004
  • Disney World/Southern States Tour 2003
  • North Carolina Summer Institute of Choral Arts / Williamsburg VA 2002
  • Niagara International Children’s Choir Festival 2001
  • National Children’s Choir Festival, Carnegie Hall, New York City 2000
  • Shrewsbury International Music Festival, England and Wales 1999
  • Central European Children’s Choir Festival, Germany, France, and Austria 1996

Tours: Youth Chorale

  • Festival 500, St. John's, Newfoundland 2009
  • Youth Sing Festivals, Toronto and Stratford 2005, 2004, 2003

Commissioned Composers

  • David Crowe, 1994, The Echo of Our Voices
  • Andrew Carter , 1994, Lord Thou Hast Been Our Refuge
  • Malcolm Dalglish, pub. 1995, Christmas Lullabye
  • Robert Hobby, 1996, Praise the Lord, All Nations
  • Stephen Walley, 1997, I Must Follow
  • Patricia Van Ness, 1998, O infans lucis
  • Jean Berger,1999, God is Love
  • Keith Hampton, 2000, Celebrate This Joyful Day
  • Ken Medema, 2003, The Wonder of Why
  • Rollo Dilworth, 2004, Hold the Light
  • Nick Page, 2005, The Earth’s Been Good to Me
  • Paul Carey, 2006, Four or Five Tadpoles, Query, Seal Lullaby, You Gonna Eat That?