And now Taylor Gudbrandson, Artistic and Executive Director of the Kalamazoo Children's Chorus, talks about the history of the choir, the incredible trips the kids have taken, and the skills they learn.

(gentle ensemble music) (jaunty ensemble music) - My name is Taylor Gudbrandson, and I'm the Artistic Director of the Kalamazoo Children's Chorus.

(jaunty ensemble music) - Right, Kalamazoo Children's Chorus.

- Yes.

- Who are the children?

- We have children from all over Kalamazoo County, and outside of that, so the greater Kalamazoo area, we have 3rd graders through 12th graders.

So when you say Children's chorus, you might think younger kids, but we have advanced singers as well that are at their end of their high school career, about to go into college, and sometimes even for music.

- Tell me about the word chorus.

What are these kids doing?

- Well, a chorus is a choir, so we come together, but a lot of our kids come here because we're more of a family than just an ensemble, right?

We get to sing music, we say from Broadway to Bach, so we like to do a lot of different kinds of music that speak to different backgrounds and to different kids so that hopefully in the concert they find, you know, at least one piece that really speaks to them.

So it's kind of like a sacred, cherished place.

- Well, you sing in public in front of people.

- Yes, we do.

We have very brave kids.

(laughs) - Take me back to the beginnings of the chorus.

- KCC started in 1980, and it was founded by a local music teacher, her name was Jean Fry, and she saw a need in our community for choral music, and excellent choral music for our children.

We have 60 kids that sing with us right now, and at this point, we still have the same mission to create excellent music and to do it in a way that we can come here and celebrate and be joyful, and it's kind of like an escape from the rest of the week.

- How'd you get involved?

What's your background?

- Well actually, I sang with the Kalamazoo Children's Chorus when I was in high school.

I started in 10th grade, so for three years, I got to come and sing every night, or every Tuesday night with the KCC.

And then this was really the place where I decided I wanted to be a choir director and I wanted to be a children's chorus director.

It's a different atmosphere, a different kind of culture than maybe in the public school.

Everyone who comes to us really wants to be here, and because of that, you can have such high standards and really work towards those goals.

I had just a great time being here and being on the other side of things, seeing how things work from behind the curtains, I guess you could say.

- So you have a show coming up, what's gonna happen on stage?

- [Taylor] Our concert is titled "Magic in the Air," and this is celebrating 100 years of Disney.

So all of the songs that we're singing are taken from beloved movies that, for generations, have been sung throughout our houses.

- Are your kids reading music or have we committed to memorization?

- Oh, at the concert, we will be memorized so that we can dance and have the full experience, but yes, they read music when we're rehearsing, so it's kind of like a language skill that they're working on, as well.

This is their passion.

This is something that they put their whole heart and soul into, and it's extra, it's an extra commitment.

So the kids that come here want to be here.

- I love anything that involves hanging out with the KCC family.

- I am probably one of the most excited people to be here.

I just love performing, especially performing with other people.

It just makes such a joy in my heart.

- I think my favorite part is getting to sing with all my friends.

- I like seeing all the younger ones grow into their voices and realizing what they can do, and watching them become more comfortable and confident in themselves.

- I always say everyone can sing, you just have to find your voice, and we have excellent teachers.

So our introductory level, our Songbirds, is directed by Randi Simons-Miller, and she is a choir director from Portage Public Schools, and she's phenomenal with the kids.

So there's a lot of exploring your voice and finding what you sound like and how to fit in with the other group.

- Miss G, just always, like, especially with the little ones, she knows exactly how to like, get them involved and get them to like, learn things.

And with the older ones, she's still able to have fun, but also able to encourage and push us and give us, like, challenging pieces, but then we'll end up loving them.

- The most important thing they've taught me would to be to like, sing as a group and accept everybody and all voices.

(gentle orchestral music) - Talk about the collaboration within the Kalamazoo Arts community.

- Yeah, so our biggest goal this season is actually community collaboration.

Last season, our goal was to get outside of our community and see the world outside of our town.

And so we focused our entire season on MLK and attended the We Have a Dream Choral Festival in Washington, DC, and we were able to, on Juneteenth, sing at the MLK Memorial and participate in a concert at the Kennedy Center, performing musical works that support MLK's legacy.

And so we thought, how can we build into our community the same way that we've built into our kids and allow them to show what we've learned?

And so luckily, we've had a lot of other organizations reach out to us saying that they were interested in collaborating.

So we are collaborating this season with the Kalamazoo Concert Band and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra.

- And what about the experience for the kids for this collaboration, but this performance in a bigger venue than what may just be at a smaller presentation?

- Yeah, it's important to sing where your roots are.

And Chapel Hill has generously given us this space, this beautiful space that we can rehearse and perform in.

But it's also important to go out into your community, other places, to find audiences that don't always come here, but maybe we'll find you somewhere else.

And part of that is also for the kids.

Singing in a church is much different than singing in a concert hall.

So at Chenery Auditorium, you know, the stage is larger, it feels different, the acoustics are different.

When we go and work with other ensembles, it's kind of, we get to learn from them and see what their experiences are and what could work for us, and know that there's not just one way to do art, right?

- Give me an example of maybe an experience you've had where either a kid's nailed a solo, or they've hit the high note, or the crowd has given a standing ovation.

What brings memories to you?

- Well, the first thing that comes to mind, last season I gave one of our pieces to the older choir, Rising Voices, a piece in German, and we sang "Waldesnacht" by Brahms.

And it was a really tricky piece for them to work on.

Learning a new language is always hard, but also it was acapella, it was in three parts.

And when we got up to perform it, it was so beautiful.

And this happens to me a lot, I guess, at a performance, I find myself like, tearing up when I'm making eye contact with different kids.

And that was one of those moments where I found myself getting choked up because it was probably one of the strongest pieces on our concert because they had to work so hard for it.

And I just remember, it wasn't the showy piece, right?

It wasn't the finale number that is probably in the audience's mind, but for the choir and for me, the connections that we made just on stage in that moment, it was a special time.

And so parts of the concert are always those parts, probably things that the audience don't know, but the kids and I, we know what it took to get there.

- Keep doing well with those young voices.

- Thank you.

(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support for Kalamazoo Lively Arts is provided by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, helping to build and enrich the cultural life of greater Kalamazoo.