During the 2019-2020 season, the Milwaukee Children’s Choir experienced difficult obstacles. From the COVID-19 pandemic, to the restructuring of MCC’s senior leadership, the challenges faced have asked more of our Board of Directors, staff, volunteers, families, and singers than ever before. Yet, the roadblocks have only ignited us to continue to strengthen our mission and bring together children and families from across racial, ethnic and socioeconomic divides.
Before our season ended prematurely, we built new partnerships with organizations. This includes DanceWorks. In November 2019, DanceWorks students performed alongside MCC singers during our November concert, H20. We also created a new after-school program that will expand our impact on youth, providing access to MCC programming to students by removing financial and transportation barriers to experience the arts. We continue to stand by our mission and work to foster and transform ever child we serve, creating literate and educated musicians, not just singers.
While there were cancelled performances and tours last season, we had 24 performances and served more than 100 youth with 32 weeks of instruction and performance experiences, both in-person and virtually. Our singers also engaged with guest artists from local arts groups, and performed with the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and DanceWorks.
The year was a struggle. However, we learned from that struggle and now understand how to best engage our youth with COVID-19 in our lives. This includes creating more online content for choristers, highlighting personal development to continue building confident, smart, and well-rounded young people. Class topics may range from time management, goal setting, and communication, to composition, music theory, and sight singing. In addition to special content classes provided by guest artists. We know the upcoming season will be exceptional, whether we meet in-person or online.
To make the upcoming 2020-2021 season a success, we need your help. Funding is needed for new technology and staff support as we continue to engage our singers virtually. Additionally, the Emily Crocker Scholarship Fund has been significantly affected. On average 24 singers receive $8,000. For the 2020-2021 season we only have $1,500 to distribute to low income families, at a time when we anticipate an increase in need. If you are interested in learning more about how you can make an impact on MCC and help us meet our needs, email MCC’s Development Director Tasha Sorenson – tsorenson@milwaukeechildrenschoir.org.
We thank you, our supporters, for all you did for MCC and our singers throughout the 2019-2020 season. We look forward to continuing partnership with you as our new season begins. It holds so many new possibilities for all our singers.