A Community in Song

By Christina B.

One year ago, I started a journey down the road of transformation as I was introduced to the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance and supported in forming the Northeast Family and Community Choir. Before this, in March 2019 I sat listening to an inspiring presentation given by Arreon Harley-Emerson at a national choral director's conference. I was riveted as Arreon spoke about the Choir School of Delaware which offers free professional music instruction, academic support, health and wellness programs, and intergenerational performance opportunities for youth under 18 and families of Wilmington, Delaware. The choir also proudly boasts a 100% graduation rate for seniors in its programs. 

As I considered this stunning information, I felt moved and inspired. I wondered if something similar existed in the Rochester area and left that presentation on a mission to find out! Arreon pointed me in the direction of Dr. William Weinert of Eastman, who then pointed me in the direction of a few arts organizations in Rochester that serve city youth. I contacted each, and while an all-encompassing after school choral program like Arreon's didn't seem to exist (yet!), my ideas were very well received. In particular, the Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance immediately supported me in forming an intergenerational choir in Rochester with the initial goal of performing at the community's Annual Holiday Concert.

The experiences that ensued are dear to me. I met wonderful families and youth at our weekly rehearsals. We filled the Avenue D R-Center with song. We shared food and conversation together. We participated in the Clinton Avenue Business Association Tree Lighting & Parade with choirs from Schools 9 and 20. We prepared a diverse Holiday Concert. We shared a sense of community that the arts evoke so beautifully — family to family, heart to heart. 

The Northeast Family and Community Choir's most recent performance in March of this year brought these experiences full circle. Arreon's Choir School of Delaware was given the prestigious invitation to perform for the Eastern American Choral Directors Association conference, which happened to be in Rochester! So we arranged a combined performance of Arreon's choir with our very own Northeast Family and Community Choir at Rochester City Hall. Singing in the resonant second-floor atrium—our voices and missions combined—I was filled with overwhelming gratitude. Gratitude for those I had met in both choirs, for those who gave all of us support, and for those who offered encouragement and inspiration. I think you will be too if you watch them sing!

In reflecting on these memories, I see that the great cause of transformation through the arts has in fact transformed me. What a gift!