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Current NewsDownload the BYCA Winter 2009 Newsletter Sign up to receive our e-newsletter, BYCA Notes Read Concert Reviews
Wally Cardona, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
"If anything had the power to override the boundaries here, it would be the oratorio by Phil Kline (composer of the Unsilent Night boom-box symphony) for the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Beginning low and sweet, the harmonies slowly accumulate into an oceanic wave of innocence . But the angelic voices, emanating from the balcony behind us, are too far away to wash over the stage. In lyrics adapted from Kierkegaard, the children sing: “To transform all this distance into one normal step into life is the single miracle.” Indeed. -- The Financial Times Full Review " A month ago, at BAM, as one of the backdrops for choreographer Wally Cardona's Next Wave Festival piece Really Real, Kline draped the Brooklyn Youth Chorus in spiraling hymns that at some junctures stole the dancers' thunder." -- The Village Voice K. Leander WilliamsNY1 on BYC performance of Lord of the Rings at Radio CityExcerpts from NY1's Arts reporter Stephanie Simon's report. Full report
Among the musicians and singers will be the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. "It's just really cool to be able to sing with the film in the background," says chorus member Jake Montagnino. These young singers recently got some help interpreting the music from the composer Howard Shore, who won an Oscar for the film's score. At a recent rehearsal in Brooklyn Heights, the kids learned to understand the music of Middle-earth. "To have him here, to hear him describe the work, get to ask questions, have that on one time that they rarely would get to have. Mahler's not around anymore so that's the advantage of working with living composers," says Dianne Berkun, the artistic director of Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The young singers were also eager for the opportunity. "I've been here 10 years and I still haven't done anything quite like this," says chorus member Kristal Pacific. "We're getting to go to Radio City Music Hall at the age of 12 and it's just an amazing thing," says chorus member Taylor Boria.
New York Magazine Sings BYC Praises in a Two-Page Photo Spread
New York Magazine's June 8, 2009 issue featured two great photos of BYC, including a two-page spread by renowned photographers Rene & Radka, and a feature story by writer Rebecca Milzoff (text below). "It’s a wonder that the members of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus had time to assemble for this photo. Last week, they sang with indie rockers Grizzly Bear at the Town Hall (they’re on the band’s new album) and at their own concerts. As of June 11, they’ll perform in seven of Lorin Maazel’s final concerts with the New York Philharmonic. And they’re preparing for a central role in Really Real, composer Phil Kline’s evening-long piece with choreographer Wally Cardona for BAM’s Next Wave Festival. "Among New York’s choral groups, BYC stands alone. It’s really a vocal academy, started from scratch in 1992 by its unflappable director, Dianne Berkun. (Today, 280 kids sing in five choral levels, from 127 schools.) “Often in a chorus, there’s some compromising on individual development for the sake of an ensemble,” Berkun says. “But these kids are trained to sing all musics authentically.” Maazel calls them “prepared within an inch of their lives,” and Kline agrees: “I don’t think I really got what their musicianship was like till rehearsal. It’s everything you could ask for.” He laughs. “And unlike most professionals I know, they come on time and don’t leave early!” Of course not—then they’d have to go do their homework."
Hear BYC on Holy Ghost!'s new single "I Will Come Back"
Known for their 2008 hit “Hold On,” remixes for the likes of Moby, MGMT, Phoenix and Cut Copy, the Brooklyn band Holy Ghost! , comprised of duo Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel, released their new single, I Will Come Back, a five and a half-minute dance floor epic, featuring the angelic voices of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. This single will also be featured on the band’s highly-anticipated debut album due out early next year on DFA Records. Listen to it now on Green Label Sound.
BYC joins Grizzly Bear live at Town Hall and are featured on their latest CD, Veckatimest
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The tagline for the 2001 blockbuster film "The Lord of the Rings" was "The legend comes to life." Now the fantasy saga will come even more alive, when on October 9-10 the complete original score for the film will be performed live at Radio City Music Hall while the film is shown on a 60-foot screen. 
