Richmond Choral Society Youth Chorus was created in 2003 as the junior division of the Richmond Choral Society.  Young singers encounter a variety of fun and challenging musical experiences and receive instruction in vocal production, music literacy, and concert performance.

Richmond Choral Society Youth Chorus recruits students entering fourth to twelfth grades: choral singing is fun and challenging. Join RCS Youth Chorus for classical voice training and instruction in music sight-reading and performance skills.

Auditions for Fall, 2012 will be held at New Dorp Moravian Parish House on the first two Wednesdays of September (9/5 and 9/12) at 4 p.m.  No preparation necessary. Please call (718) 448-3656 for an appointment.

Click here to watch our latest youth chorus performance via YouTube.

Membership in RCS Youth Chorus
RCS Youth Chorus meets every Wednesday from September to May at St. Andrews' Parish Hall across from St. Andrew's Church at 40 Old Mill Road in Richmondtown, where Arthur Kill and Richmond Roads meet, from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. The first rehearsal of the 2012-2013 season will be Wednesday, September 19 at 4 p.m. Rehearsals follow the public school calendar.

Tuition for the 2012-2013 season is $440. Financial assistance is available for a limited number of students – please call (718) 448-3656 for more information.

Youth Chorus Staff

Beth Johanning has been the Youth Chorus' s director since 2006. Beth is a native of Canton, Ohio. She attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music on an opera scholarship, where she earned a Masters degree. Since then, Ms. Johanning has made her mark in an array of opera roles in theaters all over Germany. In addition to her work on stage, she has committed four of her acclaimed operatic characterizations to disc for the Marco Polo label. More recently, she has worked extensively with young singers at Brooklyn Technical H.S., the Staten Island JCC, Moore H.S. and as music director of the Christ Church Community Choir. Since 2006, Ms. Johanning has been the musical director of RCS Youth Chorus, and has led the young singers in works for treble voices including compositions by John Rutter, Benjamin Britten, JS. Bach and Giovanni Pergolesi. A resident of Staten Island, Ms. Johanning is a cantor/soloist in various area churches, and has performed with the Staten Island Symphony and in a number of opera concerts and vocal recitals for the Serenade Concert Series. Beth is married and has a son.

 

 

From the Advance, May 7, 2006

Michael Fressola wrote: " . . . the kids of Richmond Choral Youth Chorus are the irreplaceable center of Mass of the Children, a 2003 work by pre-eminent English composer, John Rutter." Eva Tooker, Youth Chorus Music Director from September 2003 to May, 2006 "assumed all along that the group would eventually grow into works like the Rutter piece. It has happened quicker than [we] anticipated."

Excerpts from the Staten Island Advance, June 5, 2005

" . . . a group of Staten Island youngsters who share a love of song are giving new life to the oft-overlooked genre of choral music, using perhaps the one voice that their generation can relate to – their own."

"Forget ‘We Belong Together’ by Mariah Carey, or ‘Just a Lil Bit’ by 50 Cent . . . these kids can sing much more complicated fare."