Near the end of our summer concert,as the drummer lays down aneasy-going groove, our 3rd, 4th,

and 5th graders begin to sway in thateasy way our children do. Softly they openthe song, singing, “Aruba, Jamaica, oo, Iwanna take, ya”. The audience murmursapprovingly, as most of them know wellthe Beach Boys’ Kokomo. The children,encouraged, continue more confidently,

“Bermuda, Bahama, c’mon, pretty mama.”But then, an unexpected change ofdynamics: the choir shifts to a near whis-per as they sing, “Off the Florida Keys,”a lyrical and elegant moment not in theoriginal Beach Boys recording. Our drum-mer plays quietly while the children floatthrough the verse smoothly, dreamily.Sean, our assistant music director, addedthis dynamic and rhythmic softening toshowcase his little ones’ ability to singsweetly and accurately—and also to setup the approaching familiar chorus/hook.

POW!!!! “Aruba, Jamaica…..” The children hit it hard. They start clap-ping, and the audience quickly begins toclap along with them. Despite never hav-ing sung this song before mid-July, ourchildren clearly own it, adding just a littlemore of the groove and rhythmic back-beat they’ve learned from years of singingand moving to R&B. Their performancegenerated a two-minute beach party.

Of course the original Beach Boysrecording is wonderful—we just added alittle CCC spice. This is what we do.

—John Alston, Artistic Director

The Newsletter of the Chester Children’s Chorus Fall 2018

Friday, December 14 & Saturday, December 15 7:30 p.m.

Lang Concert Hall, Swarthmore CollegeReserved seating. Check website for details(www.chesterchildrenschorus.org) December 1st. Seating limited to 425 guests. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

Friday, January 18, 20196:00 p.m.

MLK CelebrationCongregation Rodeph Shalom615 North Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA

ADMISSION IS FREE! DONATIONS SUPPORT CCC PROGRAMS.

Beach Boys—CCC Style

upcomingconcerts

I N S I D E :

FALL 2018 / CHESTER CHILDREN’S CHORUS NEWSLETTER

C C C S U M M E R B Y T H E N U M B E R S

‘‘WE ARE MORE THAN A CHORUS.If you really look at it, we go through so many life lessons—helping us become better academically, and seeing the world differently. There are always two sides; in Chester, you imagineonly one way of life, but here you have anything you want and can become anything.’’ —Wendell Wimbush, graduating senior, 2018

PEOPLE ARE OFTEN SURPRISED to learn about all the classes and activities the children enjoyedduring our 6 week Summer Learning Program. Below is the list of every class we offered, the numberof children who participated, and the number of teachers, assistants and volunteers who taught.

Volunteers, Teachers &

Subject Attendance Assistants

Arboretum 10 2African Dance 45 8Art 39 2Book Club 10 5Breakfast 85 12Advanced Musicianship 7 1Cooking Class 21 4Clarinet 1 1Daily Rehearsal 121 11Group Voice 6 1Hip-Hop & Modern Dance 35 2History 8 1Individual Voice 7 1Math Practice 31 12Sports & Play 24 4Piano 22 3Program Administration 5Science 52 31Sharples Lunch 57 4Free Swim 121 20Swim Lesson 62 26Third Grade Reading 22 27

Cordelia Delson Steps DownAs Chorus Board Chair

A fter 16 years as the leader of theChester Children’s Chorus Board,Cordelia Delson has stepped

down from the position of Board Chair.Cordelia’s many contributions have beenessential to the growth of the Chorus and we are very grateful for her sustained period of successful leadership.

In Jan. 2002, Cordelia was asked by John Alston to formand lead a board for CCC. John knew Cordelia from herleadership work with the Friends of Music and Dance atSwarthmore College and as an “older” member of theSwarthmore College Chorus. Cordelia agreed and approachedpeople she knew who were involved in community work andhad the needed skills: legal, financial, and fundraising. Fromthat point on, everything CCC grew organically—the staff, theboard, the number of children, the number of concerts, and thedonor base. As Cordelia says, “We figured it out as we went.”

Cordelia has continued to value her involvement withthe Chorus: “From the very beginning, I have felt privilegedto be part of such an essential and visionary program forchildren in Chester and to work with such dedicated andtalented people. Seeing the Chorus grow in size andimprove the quality of their performances, and experiencingthe sheer joy they bring to audiences has been rewarding.”

Cordelia has been elected as an emerita member of theChorus Board and will remain involved, serving this year aschair of the Program/Education Committee.

C C C W E L C O M E S N E W B O A R D M E M B E R S

New Board member CRYSTALHARRISON is a proud parent ofCCC member, Nayomi Harrison,now a high school senior whohas been in the Chorus sincethe third grade. Crystal stillrecalls being overwhelmed ather first CCC concert: “It wasjust AWESOME!” Crystal is anAccountant in the FinanceDepartment of the ChesterHousing Authority, and alsoserves on Widener PartnershipCharter School Board. Shebelieves in the children ofChester and the hope for a bet-ter future the Chorus provides.

THE REV. DR. MARTHATUCKER joins the board withgreat excitement and broadexperience. She is an Episco-pal priest, developmentalpsychologist and lawyer whohas served as Associate Rector at St David’s Episco-pal Church and directed theSwarthmore PresbyterianNursery Day School. Withthree children and twograndchildren, Martha is pas-sionate about helpingchildren of all ages discovertheir “wholeness.”

Swarthmore resident SUSANCLAREY is retired after careersin publishing in New York,fundraising at Swarthmore Col-lege and communications forthe Salvation Army. Susan was“simply blown away” by herfirst Chorus concert. “I feelprivileged to have joined theBoard, not only because of theopportunities the CCC offerschildren from Chester, but alsobecause it gives all of us achance to appreciate talentedsingers and great music.”

LISA DENNIS is a proud life-long Chester resident and theparent of Alisa, a current CCC7th grader. Lisa is the Directorof the Office of CommunityLiaison in Chester’s Depart-ment of Public Affairs, thefounder of The ChesterBereavement Project, and isalso a Police Chaplain. As amusician and singer-song-writer, Lisa “values theChorus’ ability to touch thehearts of its listeners with themessage of the music.”

o Enclosed is a check (Check made payable to“Swarthmore College” with “Chester Children’sChorus” in memo field.)

o I would like to make a monthly gift of $________

o I have remembered the CCC in my will.

o Please charge my gift to m Visa m Mastercard m Discover m American Express

Card # __________________________________

Expires: __________ / __________

o My gift will be matched by my employer. (Please enclose your signed matching gift form.)

Name

Street

City, State, Zip

Email

Phone number

To give online, visit our website www.chesterchildrenschorus.org, and select “Volunteer or Give!” For information, call director of developmentCynthia Staniszewski at (610) 690-5533. Please return this form to our address below.

www.facebook.com/ChesterChildrensChorus www.youtube.com/user/CheChiChorus

SUPPORT US! I am pleased to make a contribution to the Chester Children’s Chorus in the amount of $ __________________.

THANK YOU!

John Alston, Founder & Executive Artistic DirectorSean Tripline, Assistant Music DirectorCynthia Staniszewski, Director of DevelopmentElisa DeNofio, Administrative Assistant

If you have received an extra copy of this newsletter, please notify us at 610-328-8180 and share the copy with a friend.

Swarthmore College • 500 College Avenue • Swarthmore PA 19081(610) 328-8180 • ccc@swarthmore.edu

www.chesterchildrenschorus.org

Voice credits:Editor:

John Alston

Designer:Karlyn Rosen Aires

Photography:John Wehmiller, Andrea Knox,

Jonathan Hodgson, CCC Summer Learning Program

Staff & Volunteers

Thank you, KirstenFOR THE PAST SEVEN YEARS Kirsten Halker-Kratz has been instrumental in sup-porting the growth and success of the CCC. Her passionate and dedicated service haspositioned the Chorus to take this next step, the development of a rigorous academicprogram to support our children. To accomplish this mission, we have restructured theorganization and created a Managing Director position, who will guide educationalprogramming and replace the Executive Director position. We are grateful to Kirstenfor all that she has done on behalf of our program: greeting the thousands of peoplewho have come to our concerts during her tenure, nurturing the dozens of friendshipson behalf of the Chorus, creating our private voice and piano lessons program, and for her dedicated service to the children and their families. We will miss her. We wish her the very best in her future endeavors.

Iwould like you to meetCi-Ci, because Ci-Ci isthe CCC. Let me tell you

why. Ci-Ci (real nameCiazsa) Davis joined theChorus unusually late, as ahigh school junior. Shy atfirst, Ci-Ci worked hard andsteadily to become a won-derful Concert Choirsoprano who sang bothMozart’s and Faure’sRequiems with us. Sheshares, “I didn’t feel like I was a singeruntil I joined the CCC. It was strange andnew. Now, we all have that bond andlook out for each other. It’s like my sec-ond home.” Currently a first year Nursingstudent at Neumann University, where shewas awarded a full scholarship, Ci-Ci con-tinues to sing with us this fall semester—

in addition to taking coursesin Anatomy, Chemistry, Rheto-ric & Writing, and Theology.

This past summer, Ci-Ciwas one of our math coaches,and worked 1-on-1 daily withseveral of our middle and highschool students. She enjoyedthat work tremendously,telling me, “I was happy whenI helped my students learnsomething new. We lookedforward to seeing each other.”

We were fortunate to be able to hire Ci-Cito be one of our math coaches for thisschool year.

This is why I wanted you to meet Ci-Ci—she represents what the CCC is allabout. We are lucky to have her continueto be with us, singing with and teachingour children. —JA

THE CCC CHECK IN: Ci-Ci