Children’s Chorus of Carroll County presents two major annual concerts and is also involved in other concerts and musical collaborations.  The Chorus has joined forces with the Peabody Children's Chorus and Peabody Strings, The Johns Hopkins Chorus and Orchestra, The Georgetown University Chorus and Orchestra, Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County, McDaniel College Choir, Old Line Statesmen Barbershop Quartet and Chorus, Estonian Television Girls Choir, Blue Ridge Brass Quintet, Westminster Ringers, Westminster Ballet Company and the Paide Girls Choir (Estonia).   Each fall, the Bel Canto’s help raise monies for the local Safe House by performing in the annual “With One Voice” Concert, St.John Church. Select singers have been regularly showcased at the Big Band Merry Christmas Concert.         

Highlights of the two younger performing groups, Les Petites Voix and Il Choro Della Bella Voce, include performances at Hershey Park Candy Lane, the Washington, D.C.   MormonTabernacle Visitors Center, Port Discovery in Baltimore.   In the springs of 2008 and 2009, the Della Bella’s teamed with the Westminster Senior Singers to present Intergenerational Concerts.   These innovative concerts were true celebrations of the life-long joy of music-making.

Bel Canto highlights include performances at the White House Candlelight Tours, Carnegie Hall and the Riverside Church in New York.   Each spring the Bel Cantos participate in an adjudicated event.   In May of 2003 they were awarded a Superior Rating at the Paramount King's Dominion Choral Festival.   In May of 2004, the Bel Canto’s went to Philadelphia to participate in the Heritage Children’s Choir Festival, receiving an adjudication rating of excellent.   May of 2005 found the group in once again in New York City participating in a “Music Maestro, Please” festival where they earned a superior rating.   In April 2006 the Bel Canto’s went to Six Flags America in Washington, DC and earned two trophies: one for a superior performance and one for Best in Category.   In 2007 they received an excellent rating in Music in the Parks at Busch Gardens, VA.   The choir earned a superior rating and “Outstanding Festival Choir” at the 2008 Music in the Parks in Hersheypark.   In New York’s 2009 Heritage Festival, they earned a Gold award, earning the privilege of participating in a Gold Festival in Chicago, 2010.   In March 2009, the BC’s joined the Maryland State Boy Choir and the Annapolis Children’s Chorus in Young Voices of Maryland, a one day festival culminating in a stellar evening concert. The Chicago Heritage Festival was indeed the destination for May 2010 where, once again, we were outstanding.

           
Voce Viaggio, established in 2003, traveled to Finland, Sweden and Estonia in 2004, representing Westminster and the United States in Estonia as an extension of the Westminster, Maryland/ Paide, Estonia Partner City Program.   In July 2008, they traveled to England to participate in the “12th International Children’s Chorus Festival,” where they performed in Oxford, Coventry and London under the direction of Dr. Rollo Dilworth and Dr. David Flood.   In October 2009, Voce Viaggio had the honor of performing during the 277th Birthday Ball of the United States Marines at Fort Meade, MD.

 
The Estonian Connection

The City of Westminster and Paide, Estonia, have enjoyed outstanding participation in the business and cultural exchange established by the state of Maryland in 2001.   Our Chorus became involved in 2003 when we presented the Estonian Television Girls Choir in concert.   The following year, Voce Viaggio traveled to Estonia, representing the City of Westminster and the State of Maryland.   

         
The Chorus hosted “Sirjelind,” the Paide Girls’ Choir, from June 24 through July 1, 2005.   Both choirs traveled and performed together in Baltimore, Annapolis, Ocean City and Westminster.   The culminating experience was the June 30th Gala International Concert with the Carroll Festival Chorus, Sirjelind and Voce Viaggio.   

 
In May of 2007, our Chorus, Masterworks Chorale of Carroll County and the McDaniel College Choir combined forces in premiering “Journeys to Freedom: Rännakud Vabadusse,” a work for three choirs and instrumental ensemble by Rebecca Oswald.   This commissioned work dramatically chronicles the universal quest for freedom through the folk songs of both Estonia and the United States.

 
In June 2009, Haley Austin, Emily Ehrgott, Kristen Luther, and Diane Jones, participated in the 140th Song Festival, Tallinn, Estonia, as members of the Paide Girls’ Choir.   This venture was not a Chorus sponsored event, but would have been impossible without the history we have enjoyed with our wonderful Nordic friends!