Living in Austin gives parents a distinct advantage for exposing their kids to music — the Live Music Capital of the World has its advantages, including ready access to live children’s music and excellent music instructors.
Case in point: the Austin Girls’ Choir, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.
The secret to the group’s success is its focus on each chorister taking responsibility for herself and the choir as a whole. This not only imbues the girls with the benefits of a musical education, but also with responsibility.
“Most of our girls practice twice a week, and understand that the whole team has to rehearse together in order to excel together,” says Sara Burden-McClure, the choir’s director. “Skip a rehearsal, and you hold everyone back while you catch up; skip a concert, and you’ve left the team scrambling to cover your absence.”
Those who stick with choir long term discover that what they invest in the team comes back to them fivefold in terms of personal development and pure joy in the experience of singing highly challenging music together.
An equally challenging experience is chamber music, which kids can participate in at the Austin Chamber Music Center.
“Chamber music is the ultimate exercise in democracy because each musician's ideas have to be taken into account to make great music happen” says Dr. Michelle Schumann, the organization’s artistic director. “Each member in a quartet will be as much a leader at times as a follower at other times; this creates an incredible empathy among all children because they absolutely have to listen, cooperate, and react favorably and compassionately to be successful.”
Experiences such as the chamber music ensemble and the Austin Girls’ Choir allow kids to gain independence by performing on their own. Playing and performing with other students also helps kids learn to depend on, and trust, their partners.
And here in Austin, there’s plenty of opportunity to do that and more!
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