Our goals for our work with children
Our two-fold goal is to provide high quality, educational and engaging song concerts for children from all walks of life and secondly, to foster young talent by providing an opportunity for children and young people to participate in these professional programs. Thus, our aim is not only to entertain and teach, but also to foster talent both in young children and, as part of our long-range goal explained below, to build over time a mentoring program for high school aged singers.
The mentoring program
As part of our long-term plan, Lyric Fest intends to develop a mentoring program for young singers. We are expecting a 6-8 month long process during which we are in contact with music teachers in the high schools who will help us to identify talented and interested Philadelphia area youth. We will hold auditions, and once selected, each student would get an assignment of songs and be offered regular coaching and lessons throughout the spring semester of the year. At the same time, these students would be sponsored to go to vocal concerts in the area including those of Lyric Fest, The Academy of Vocal Arts, The Curtis Institute, The Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, etc. This mentoring program will culminate in a ten-day summer seminar or camp. During this intensive time, the students will continue learning and polishing their repertoire (of many genres) and will be taught and coached by professional singers and coaches in language, interpretation, style, preparedness, and presentation. At the end of the seminar, a concert will be given by the young artists. They will select readings to accompany their songs and decide on program order and in some cases choose additional repertoire if they are so inspired. There will be a sliding fee schedule for this seminar, with scholarships available for those with talent and without resources to attend. The concert will be open to the public.
It is our goal that these mentors, professional performing artists all, will impart and help the youth to experience a professional approach to their craft. Emphasis will be placed on the responsibility of the individual to strive for excellence and on what it takes to put together a performance of relevance and quality. We expect that the young artists will gain an understanding and appreciation of the creative process and experience first hand the impact of the arts on the community at large.