Chester Children’s Choir will perform two free concerts at Swarthmore College on 15 and 16 December. (Courtesy of John Wehmiller)
Lines of children swayed back and forth, singing “Country Road, Take Me Home” in a video showcasing the talents of the Chester Children’s Choir.
And on Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16, the community is invited to free performances at 7:30 pm of their “Up, Up and Away” winter concert in the Lang Music Building at Swarthmore College.
The 16-song program accompanied by professional brass and percussion sections is sung by Chester students in grades 3-12.
Chester Children’s Choir founder, executive director and artistic director Dr. John Alston shared that the range will extend from the simple medieval ballad “Ave Maria” to the Mamas and the Papas.
“Here we are, a hundred beautiful black kids singing ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ ‘California Dreamin’,’ and ‘I Feel the Earth Move,'” he said. “Like, how cute is it: little kids singing it?'” he said. “We’re intentionally singing as much as possible.” Possible of important American music well. “We want to learn as much of America as possible.”
While the focus will be on musical appreciation on these two days, the program includes a strong summer portion and weekly preparation leading up to the winter concert.
Work behind the scenes
During the summer, students spend five and a half weeks doing everything from learning to walk on water to math to playing sports, with music interspersed throughout.
“It’s like a fantasy music summer school and play camp,” Alston said.
During the school year, each child comes to Swarthmore College twice a week for after-school programs and then on Saturdays for choir practice.
“Everything we do is intentional,” Alston said. “We have limited time after school and on Saturdays, so we learn a lot of fun, rich, challenging, challenging music and as much math as we can.”
It takes a lot of logistics.
“On Saturday, we pick up each child from their home,” Alston said. “It’s a door-to-door service. We have six or seven vans that just go back and forth in circles.
All of these efforts are having an impact.
“Last year, our students made average progress over a year on a standardized test of mathematics,” Alston said. “We only meet with our kids twice a week during the school year, so we can’t do a comprehensive math intervention. We have to be selective in what we choose. And in those areas that they study with our math coaches…our students have made progress over the course of two years.
Nearly 50 Swarthmore College students serve as math tutors and work one-on-one with Chester students, he said.
“What ninth grader would want to review how fractions work in the classroom, in a classroom situation?” Alston said. “No, they need intimacy and trust from a partner. We try to keep everything as small as possible so we can have the conversation we need to do the hard things.”
Recruitment process
Alston shared the selection process in which he and Sean Tripline, assistant director of music at Swarthmore College, visit every second-grade classroom at Chester to audition each year.
“It’s intense, miraculous, brutal, fun and exhausting work that we do,” Alston said. “Most of the kids have never sung in a choir before. Most of them don’t take a lot of music lessons.
They begin with some icebreakers such as clapping hands that lead to an audition for the kids who choose to do so.
“We invite about 60 to 70 kids to join each year, and 20 to 30 families accept our invitation each summer,” Alston said.
He stressed that it is not an elite musical organization.
“They mostly have naturally beautiful ears,” he said. “They generally sing beautifully naturally. They don’t sing classical music naturally but it’s quite unnatural singing like ballet is quite unnatural dancing. We do a lot of call and response, a lot of deliberate repetition.”
He said they are learning how to identify areas that need to be strengthened.
“We just practice the way a gymnast moves,” Alston said, adding, “It feels really good when you come to one of our concerts. It doesn’t feel like a regular kids’ concert. You’ll have a lot of fun.”
The founder shared what he wants both audiences and Chester children to take away from the community performances.
“I want them to appreciate that Chester kids, like all kids, if given the right mix of love, humor and high expectations, can be excellent, too,” he said of community members. “They can be excellent just as the Swarthmore and Bryn Mawr kids can be excellent. They just need the same things.”
He spoke of his hope for children.
“The other thing I want is that when the kids get on stage, I want them to have the experience of being cared for, applauded and cheered for doing something they love,” Alston said. “And just having an audience that mostly doesn’t look like them, sitting on the edge of their seats, thinking, ‘Man, I wish my kids were on this show.’ “
Humble beginnings
Alston himself founded the Chester Children’s Choir nearly 30 years ago. Next year, they will celebrate their three-decade anniversary.
“We were seven boys in 1994,” he said. “You’re a 30-year-old musician. You have a giant ego. You don’t know anything about children. You think to yourself, ‘Let’s go to Chester and start a boys’ choir because you were in the boys’ choir.’”
He mentioned that when he was in sixth grade, he traveled to Rome and sang with Leonard Bernstein in memory of Pope Paul.
“I didn’t touch upon the understanding of social justice, education and equality. That’s not why I wanted to get in,” he said. “I wanted to get involved because I wanted to recreate the experience of my boys’ choir. The social justice piece and the education piece came much later, and I’m grateful for that.
Alston talked about the early years and how far they have come.
“Those seven boys and I understood each other’s sense of humor and understood each other’s grief,” he said. “We’ve all been through similar kinds of trauma, most of us were single parents and struggling families but we got each other. We couldn’t sing for five years. We were terrible but we loved each other, and now, last year, we sang ‘Mozart’s Requiem.’
Alston will also join Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, Ida B. Wells, Sojourner Truth, Ai-Jin Poe, and John Lewis when his portrait of Robert Shetterly is unveiled at the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. ceremony on January 13.
Shetterly painted portraits of more than 260 people as part of his “Americans Who Tell the Truth” series to encourage the viewer to “reflect on the person, their words, and the issues that inspire their life journey, work, activism, and imagination” and what they mean. It means being a US citizen.
Overwhelmed with humility, Alston stumbled over the words about honor and brought them back to the children.
“I’m especially grateful if it helps move the needle and if people appreciate that our children are really learning, but are they learning enough to thrive in the United States?” He said. “Not now but we will continue to advance and grow until we run out of space and resources.”
He said he hopes to have a language arts program within five years.
There are costs to running Chester Children’s Choir.
This year alone, it is expected to cost $1.4 million. Alston said 40% comes from foundations and the rest is raised with approximately 3,000 people who contribute $20 to $25,000 annually.
“I want to know what these kids could do if we had unlimited resources,” he said, extending that sentiment to every child in the United States. “What could our children really become if we gave them everything they need?”
He invited the community to free winter concerts on December 15 and 16.
“Come to the shows,” Alston said. “Come early so you can get a good seat. Cheer up and let us contact you via email. We’d love to send you our videos.”
The Chester Children’s Choir is a remarkable organization dedicated to providing young individuals with the opportunity to showcase their musical talents. With a focus on offering free concerts to the community, the choir has garnered a reputation for providing high-quality and inspiring performances. Swarthmore College has been fortunate enough to host several of these concerts, allowing the talented children to share their passion for music with audiences from all walks of life. Each concert is a testament to the incredible talent and dedication of the choir members, as well as the positive impact that music can have on individuals and communities.