Vocal Program

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MATISSE FELLOWS PROGRAM

Through generous funding from the Pierre and Tana Matisse Foundation, YPC is able to provide free voice lessons for approximately 30 choristers a year. These choristers receive weekly lessons with YPC’s voice faculty, and throughout their tenure in the fellowship, participate in recitals, solo performances, and masterclasses with Grammy and Tony award nominated artists of Metropolitan Opera and Broadway fame. Previous guest teachers have included Renee Fleming, Jordan Donica, and Anthony Roth Costanzo.

All YPC choristers are eligible to receive vocal training as they prepare for upcoming events or auditions. YPC offers free audition coaching for choristers interested in applying as vocal majors for NYC’s specialized music schools, and supports them through every step of the audition process, from repertoire selection, providing mock auditions, and preparing children for callbacks.

Vocal Resolutions: Shaping Perceptions Through Music is an initiative by the Young People’s Chorus of New York City to use singing as a catalyst for cultural exploration and mutual understanding. Since 2015, the Young People’s Chorus of New York City has explored themes of social relevance to today’s young people: Freedom, Citizenship, Balance, and Isolation. YPC’s choristers explored each of these themes through dialogue with one another in rehearsals, through collaboration with other young people from around the world, and through the creation of their own music, essays, and poetry. Chorister-submitted texts are used as the basis of the Vocal Resolutions choral commissions composed by today’s leading composers, including Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid and Paolo Prestini. The finished multimedia projects have been displayed and performed across the nation, ensuring that YPC choristers remain at the forefront of these critical conversations.