Nobody needs a fortune teller or crystal ball to know what the future holds . . . at least not when it comes to up-and-coming singers. The Grammy Award-winning and seemingly omniscient Houston Chamber Choir already knows. The organization’s who’s-who list is filled with choirs that are navigating the K-12 ages and will one day become the people who shape The Great Musically-influenced Beyond.
Now, in its 24th year — and completely free for guests to attend — Houston Chamber Choir’s Hear The Future Invitational Choral Festival will take place on January 28 at South Main Baptist Church and allow audiences to experience the budding performers in their nascent years as they display their talents to the world.
According to Robert Simpson, founder and artistic director of the organization, it is a rarified chance to experience the rising choruses in the Houston area as well as to celebrate the arts educators who are helping to shepherd the students through their studies.
“The future has never sounded brighter,” Simpson said. “The arts play a role in creating a person who is well-rounded. The arts allow for children to grow, and the arts create a sense of community . . . a sense of being able to feel and communicate on a deeper, emotional level that makes our community a more welcoming place for everyone.”
This year’s three participating ensembles and their gifted directors include the Bay Area Youth Singers, conducted by Nicole Daniel; and two Cypress-Fairbanks ISD schools: Cook Middle School conducted by True Hernandez; and Bridgeland High School, conducted by Christopher Fiorini. As a special bonus, organist Yuri McCoy will accompany the program.
Simpson notes how the weekend brings attention and gratitude to the often over-worked and easily under-appreciated arts educators serving these young minds.
“For me, the most important thing is for us to celebrate music at the schools. Yet, many times our educators are working with a certain lack of appreciation, so this is a chance for not only the singers but also the music educators to be celebrated and acknowledged for the important work they do in creating a well-rounded person,” he said.
As the saying goes, it’s an honor to be nominated. It’s an even greater honor to be selected as a group to perform in Hear The Future. In addition to the performances of the three selected choirs, the weekend also includes a masterclass on Saturday, January 27 with guest instructor Derrick Fox, professor of choral music and associate dean of graduate studies and creative endeavors at Michigan State University. Eight local school choirs have been invited to take part in the masterclasses.
“These eight choirs have promise and have had a lot of good work they have already done,” Simpson said. “They may not be able to afford to bring in a guest conductor, or they might have other challenges that might prevent them from reaching their full potential without some outside assistance, so we work very hard to find those choirs that are really deserving.”
To accomplish this feat, Houston Chamber Choir depends on the expert advice of two educational consultants: Sally Schott and Eddie Quaid.
“They are responsible for identifying the choirs who participate on both Saturday and Sunday and for helping us make sure that the educational qualities that we want to promote are provided,” Simpson said. “They are both master teachers with long distinguished careers as music choral directors in high schools, and they are our experts on this subject. Without them, we wouldn’t have as much success as we as we do.”
The success of the program is palpable. Some of that proof lives within Houston Chamber Choir’s own flock.
“This festival, over the years, has touched hundreds of children. In fact, there is now a person on our board who is well into her very successful career and who sang at Hear The Future as a seventh grader,” Simpson said. “She credits that experience as an establishing moment. She still has a copy of the program.”
In addition to allowing the singers to be thrilled by the experience of performing, Hear The Future stamps an indelible impression that the arts are a vital element of education. Whether the children grow up and continue in the arts or choose to pursue other avenues of employment, this experience will embolden them – and their choir teachers – with a keener understanding and appreciation for an arts education’s transformative value.
In an age when funding for the arts in schools and in the community is drying out, Houston Chamber Choir is conducting the needed work to place emphasis on and show the lasting impact of an arts education. Need proof? Just ask the board member who performed at Hear The Future as a seventh grader.
Houston Chamber Choir will present Hear The Future at 4 p.m. Sunday, January 28 at South Main Baptist Church, 4100 Main. For tickets or information, visit houstonchamberchoir.org. Free.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
