Outreach

"Wherever people are brought together through this friendly medium (singing), they discover the simplest, the most direct, and the most effective power on earth for the promotion of understanding and goodwill." (Marshall Bartholomew, Director of the Yale Glee Club 1923-1952)

From the beginning, our Chorus has been serious about its music.  And we are increasingly excited about our ability to make positive changes in people’s lives through creative musical outreach programs.  From our shared musical exchange with the Normal School in Xi’an, China, in 1998, to the recent Power of Song Tour to South Africa in 2007, we are increasingly able to channel the generosity and enthusiasm of our Members – and of outside organizations as well – to benefit people in the communities where we sing.

In the 10 years of our existence, the Yale Alumni Chorus (YAC) has participated in musical outreach programs on 5 continents. In each situation, the Foundation designs and produces musical and social exchanges with other musical groups, community organizations, schools and other choruses, to "build international understanding through the universal language of music.”   We continue to build upon our successes, syndicating initial efforts and acting as a catalyst to attract additional resources in support of what we have started.

Normal School for Teacher Training in Xi'an, China

Also in Xi'an, the Yale Alumni Chorus hosted students from the Xi'an Opera School to an afternoon of singing at our hotel.  Members of both groups sang classic opera arias, interspersed with songs from each country's musical repertoire.  In many cases, conversation between performers took place in Italian or German, since most of the participants did not speak each other's language – a truly international experience.

In 2001, the Chorus journeyed to England, Russia and Wales to participate in Yale's European celebration of its Tercentennial.  At the University of Leningrad in St. Petersburg, members of the Yale Alumni Chorus joined members of the Leningrad Chorus for an evening of song, fellowship and good cheer.  Each chorus sang from its repertoires and joined together in several classical opera choruses. 

Dinner with the Chamber Choir of the Smolny Cathedral, St. Petersburg

Opening concert at the International Musical Eisteddfod Choral Festival, Wales

The Tercentennial celebration continued in the United Kingdom, where the Yale Alumni Chorus was invited to perform the opening concert of the world-renowned International Musical Eisteddfod Choral Festival, in Llangollen, Wales - an event that attracts competing choruses from all parts of the world.  An enthusiastic audience enjoyed musical selections from Beethoven, Verdi, Hindemith, Parry, Handel, Porter, Thompson, Bernstein, Heath and Bartholomew.   And the Chorus got to meet and hear singers from all over the world.

Continuing the Tercentennial celebration in the United States, the Chorus participated in a concert in Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center that commemorated the 300th anniversaries of both the City of St. Petersburg and Yale University.  Singers from both countries joined the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, under the baton of Constantine Orbelian, in a rousing "Salute to St. Petersburg and Yale University".  The concert, featuring music by Glière, Mozart, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Borodin, gave Chorus members an opportunity to perform with famed Russian soloists, including Lubov Petrova, Miroslav Kultishev (the 16 year old rising star pianist), and Marina Domashenko.  Afterwards, the Chorus hosted our Russian friends at an afterglow in New York's famed Russian Tea Room.

Stemming from our prior associations with Maestro Constantine Orbelian, the Yale Alumni Chorus was invited to become the first American chorus to perform at the Kremlin State Palace in Moscow in April of 2003.  Accompanying the Philharmonic of Russia with conductor Constantine Orbelian, the Spiritual Revival Chorus of Russia,   and international opera star Dimitri Hvorostovsky, the Chorus sang a program entitled "Russian Patriotic Songs of the Great War" commemorating Russia's VE Day.  This performance was eventually broadcast to an audience of 98 million on RTR, the Russian television network.

Dinner with the Spiritual Revival Chorus of Russia

In October of 2003, the Yale Alumni Chorus invited Maestro Orbelian to conduct a concert in Woolsey Hall in New Haven in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Aram Khachaturian.  At that international celebration, the Chorus welcomed Maestro Orbelian and the Philharmonia of Russia, pianist Dora Serviarian Kuhn, mezzo Marina Domashenko, and soprano Christianne Tisdale (Yale '85) in the "100th Anniversary Salute to Aram Khachaturian."  We were designated an official celebrant of the Khachaturian anniversary by the Khachaturian family.  The composer's son, Karen Khachaturian, and his family came from Moscow to attend the concert, and we were honored to host his Excellency Arman Kirakossian, the Armenian Ambassador to the United States.

During our Latin American tour in 2004, the Foundation ventured into one of Rio's famed favelas, Cidade de Deus, to meet members of Casa de Santa Ana, a remarkable social services undertaking, serving the elderly and children at risk.  We joined together at a local Samba School, where we, in turn, sang a number of songs, heard their seniors sing, and participated in an inspiring program by the Samba School's drumming group.

Singing with the adults from the Casa de Santa Ana

	Since 2004, The Foundation has provided funds to create a choral and percussion music program for the children at Casa de Santa Ana. The program provides music teachers, musical equipment, snacks, transport, and staff for the children of the favela who participate in the program.   (See O Globo article in the Newsroom.)
The Cidade de Deus Chorus performs in Rio

The choral festival in La Plata, Argentina

One of the 16 children's choruses from Crecer Cantando in Santiago, Chile

Crecer Cantando director receiving "Let's Go Mozart" gift for Santiago music teachers

In Santiago, Chile, 16 children's choruses from Crecer Cantando joined the Yale Alumni Chorus in a morning of singing and shared fun.  Each chorus entertained us with beautiful songs – from the 6 year old beginners through their senior chorus of high school singers.  We presented the senior chorus with individual copies of the new edition of the Yale Glee Club Song Book, Songs of Yale.

The Yale Alumni Chorus also distributed Spanish educational materials to the Crecer Cantando program in the form of "Let's Go Mozart" teachers' kits, material developed by the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada. 

In February 2006, the Chorus traveled to Cambridge, England to share music with our counterparts from the Cambridge University Music Society and with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Constantine Orbelian.  These three organizations gave a benefit concert at Ely Cathedral, where the combined choruses were conducted in turn by such luminaries as Sir David Willcocks, Constantine Orbelian and Cambridge's Stephen Cleobury, as well as by our own Jeffrey Douma.  Funds raised at this concert are helping alumni singers from Cambridge University to form their own alumni chorus.  Following the tour, our Foundation donated $5000 to the Orbelian Fund to support young and extraordinarily talented young Russian and Armenian musicians to study and perform in Russia, Armenia and the United States

September 2006 found the Yale Alumni Chorus in the Netherlands for a week of music and concerts.  In Leiden, from which the Pilgrims set out for the New World almost 400 years ago, we sang a three-university concert with the University of Leiden's Collegium Musicum and our new friends from the Cambridge University Music Society in the Pieterskerk, an historic 15th century church.  Proceeds from that concert were donated to the foundation that maintains this historic church.

In the summer of 2007, the Yale Alumni Chorus traveled to South Africa to "Share the Power of Song" with many new friends in formal and informal musical settings.  Given our commitment to a broad program of outreach in the communities we visit, South Africa proved to be a particularly exciting destination.  Choral music, in great variety, is an integral part of South African society.  Singing played an essential role in the struggle that led to the end of apartheid and the birth of the modern South African democracy.  And the country offers an abundance of important community outreach opportunities.

In the course of this tour, the Chorus shared the power of song onstage with well over 750 South African musicians.  And beyond the stage, Chorus members were able to spend substantial time informally with these and many other South Africans - talking, singing, dancing, eating, and learning about shared hopes and ambitions for our children, our families and our countries. 

We invited the irrepressible ladies from the Kopanang Women's Cooperative, based in Geluksdal township near Johannesburg, to join us for breakfast, to exchange songs and for them to display and sell beautifully embroidered wall hangings, pillow covers, ornaments, scarves and wonderfully creative jewelry.  We were their largest sales day ever! They presented us with a beautiful embroidered wall hanging for the Power of Song Tour, which we had commissioned, and it was proudly displayed at each of our concerts during the tour. 

At a church service at St. Hubert's Catholic Church in Alexandra township, we were graciously welcomed by the priest and the congregation.  We heard their talented choir sing and "move" beautifully.  Our Members donated about $1500 to the church.  Following the tour, one of our Members donated a new sound system to the church, which one of our PST tour guides arranged to have installed at no charge.

The first of our three benefit concerts during the Power of Song Tour was held in the historic City Hall in Pretoria. Our performance partners were four local choruses: the Wesley Harmony Choir, the Pretoria Serenaders, the Marimba Group and the All Saints Blind Choir, with the concert proceeds benefiting the Blind Choir.  Listening to these groups, we got a good introduction into a variety of South African choral music.  The performance of the South African national anthem by all of us as a massed choir on stage at the end of the afternoon was unforgettable. 

One of the highlights of the Power of Song Tour was the musical evening we spent in Diepkloof Hall in Soweto where the talented Imilonji KaNtu Choral Society under the direction of Maestro Thangana Krila Gobingca George kaMxadana.  George, as he is known to us, introduced us to the history of music and dance in South Africa by explaining how music from other parts of the world influenced the evolution of music in South Africa.  His choristers, in elaborate costumes, sang and danced as they illustrated each type of music.  We then shared an elaborate dinner together, prepared by the Choral Society, with more singing by each chorus - both separately and together.

Another of our principal outreach partners on the Power of Song Tour was the Ubuntu Education Fund, a very well managed social service agency based in Zwide Township outside Port Elizabeth.  Founded by a South African and an American, Ubuntu serves the people of Zwide and other Port Elizabeth townships, including providing educational and health-related programs for some 40,000 orphans and vulnerable children.  Acting as a catalyst, we secured significant additional support from General Motors, whose headquarters and primary African manufacturing facility is in Port Elizabeth.  GM has contributed significant funding, a much-needed work vehicle, and the promise of annual employment opportunities for Ubuntu-nominated candidates.

Another important example of our Foundation working as a catalyst was our introduction of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals to Ubuntu.  Pfizer representatives joined us for our visit to Ubuntu and saw for themselves how effective Ubuntu is in delivering programs to improve the condition of the people in the townships, including counseling and treatment for those suffering from HIV/AIDS.  As a major supplier of anti-retroviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, Pfizer provided an immediate gift of 300,000 rand ($42,000).  They have subsequently developed a close relationship with Ubuntu leading to additional funding and other support, particularly for Ubuntu's planned health clinic - a key part of their new $4.5 million Community Centre.

Following the gala Ubuntu benefit concert in Port Elizabeth, the Chorus left behind some very tangible benefits in support of the Eastern Cape Philharmonic Orchestra's educational outreach program to teach children in the townships of Port Elizabeth to play classical orchestral instruments.  Their program was foundering; they needed more instruments for instruction and more funding for instructors and repairs.  Drawing upon our own Members, their families and friends, and church and school groups in the United States, our gift of some 40 instruments, including 2 French horns and a bassoon, together with some 70 recorders, reeds and strings, and some cash for maintenance and repairs was nothing short of magnificent.  The ECPO's gratitude was palpable.  They would now have enough instruments for every child who wanted to join their program.

And finally, in terms of our major PST outreach endeavors on the Power of Song Tour, there is the Simon Estes Music High School (SEMHS) and its extraordinarily gifted choir.  Founded by the renowned African American bass baritone, Simon Estes about 10 years ago, SEMHS is in great need for just about everything that a normal American school takes for granted, including a working facility, computers, a library, books, paper, pencils, musical instruments, and so on.  To help with these needs, the Yale Alumni Chorus gave a benefit concert in the Opera Hall in Artscape in Cape Town on the 4th of July.  At that concert, we heard this remarkable choir perform - by themselves, with Simon and with us.  At the end of the concert, the two choirs joined forces and together sang our two national anthems - the Stars Spangled Banner and Nikosi Sikelel'l Afrika.  It was another unforgettable moment.  And our support for the School and its amazing choir continues.

Wherever our travels take us, Chorus Members strive to change lives through the power of song, particularly with children at risk. We provide resources, both in the United States and abroad, that enrich children's lives through singing.

In the United States, a Foundation grant allowed The Ricardo O'Gorman Library and Center in Harlem to hire a music teacher to provide singing lessons to students at this Harlem-based school in New York City, which is free to needy children in Kindergarten to Grade 3.

And in Yale's backyard in the City of New Haven, we have supported Amistad Academy, a 5th-8th grade charter school created in part to prove that inner city children, if given the right environment, can learn and succeed. The Yale Alumni Chorus Foundation, together with the Spizzwinks(?) Alumni Association and the Whiffenpoof Alumni Association, donated funding to support a 2-year program to found and fund a children's chorus as part of the school's enrichment program.

As noted at the beginning, we are committed to our music.  And, through our creative community outreach programs, we are also committed to changing lives through the power of song.