Musical Outreach Program

 

This program provides a high-quality choral music experience to students in Jackson County high schools. Each fall, a group of eight to ten professional singers from Repertory Singers  led by director and piano accompanist, Laurie Anne Hunter visits the schools with the intent of educating and inspiring the schools’ chorus members to pursue their love of singing.

Schools served include Phoenix High School, South and North Medford High Schools, Cascade Christian, Ashland, High School, and Crater High School. Each 50 to 90-minute presentation includes an entertaining and educational talk describing the choral compositions, their history, the composers and the cultural relevance of the music.

A fun, interactive component engages students by having them sing with the professional choral group of eight singers and piano accompanist. Music education in the schools is limited, and this program allows many students to hear a wide variety of choral music for the first time.

High school students who participated in previous Choral Music Outreach programs have said:

  • “You remind me of why I sing.”
  • “Watching you all perform was eye-opening. Everyone connected to the music so well and expressed the emotion to the audience.”
  • “You all have honestly inspired us so much.”
  • “My goal in life is to one-day sing as beautifully as everyone in your choir.”
  • “You all have amazing individual voices that I could hear but the way you can suddenly go from clearly different parts to blending your voices almost as one was incredible.”
  • “So many times I was impressed where my jaw dropped and nothing else mattered.”

North Medford High School choral director Kendra Taylor wrote:

“The Repertory Singers’ Outreach program continues to inspire North Medford High School singers. The Outreach Singers enrich students’ lives with music and a personal connection. Their visit to our school is one of the highlights of our year. We want them to visit our school every year!

“Students are inspired to sing better after hearing these professionals in our classroom. Students become more passionate about music after hearing personal stories form the singers. Students learn that music is a lifelong pursuit with an opportunity for lifelong learning. The highlight of their visit is always when we sing together as the culmination of the event. Those professional singers sing with high school singers. It’s thrilling for the younger voices to be a part of such a big sound.

“I cannot recommend this program enough. They are WONDERFUL. Please help them in any way you can. We want them to visit as much as possible. Right now they visit a class of 50 singers, this is our concert choir. Ideally, we’d like to have them in to see all our choir students – all 120-150.”