Silent Voices, New Victory Theatre, 2019
Brooklyn Youth Chorus offers world-class voice training for young people, grades 2-12, with an emphasis on healthy vocal development, music literacy, and group performance. The Chorus also features multiple performing ensembles, known for delivering professional-level performances in a wide variety of settings, from concert halls to professional recording studios.
Running from September to June each year, the Chorus offers vocal instruction and private lessons for students across ten divisions, separated by age and experience level. Students are trained using the Cross-Choral Training® method, a proven holistic and experiential approach to teaching voice and musicianship in a group setting, designed by Founder & Artistic Director Dianne Berkun Menaker. It is a functional voice training based on voice science and health and a comprehensive approach to building sight-reading and music literacy skills.
Older students enrolled with the Chorus have the opportunity to participate in performing ensembles. The ensembles work on special projects throughout the year, including live appearances, professional recordings, and original choral productions.
Founded in 1992, Brooklyn Youth Chorus is regarded as one of the top youth choruses in the United States, noted both for its artistic rigor and its high-quality musical training.
Brooklyn Youth Chorus began with the mission to provide the highest-quality musical training to New York City’s young people. In addition to providing training and educational programming for the more than 600 choristers in our seven training divisions, the typical season includes more than 30 professional-level performances for our top three performing ensembles, including commissioned full-length vocal theater productions as well as artistic collaborations with artists and organizations including the New York Philharmonic, indie rock band The National, Sir Elton John, and many more.
Fox5 profile with Ernie Anastos
"Anni's Constant" from Black Mountain Songs performed at BAM.
Featured Press
“A mammoth choir that lends a shot of instant grandiosity to everything they touch, including recent tracks by The National and Bon Iver. The Brooklyn Youth Chorus doesn’t do informality. Their arrangements are as ornate and stately as chapel glass, every interweaving vocal meticulously plotted for maximum orchestral impact.”
- Pitchfork reviewing Wye Oak’s EP, No Horizon, featuring Brooklyn Youth Chorus
“Why Beyoncé Is a Fan of These Teenage Singers From Brooklyn: The acclaimed Brooklyn Youth Chorus collaborates with cutting-edge composers and has become a resource for popular musicians.”
- The New York Times profile of Brooklyn Youth Chorus’ collaborations
“Brooklyn Youth Chorus displays tremendous musicianship, stylistic sensitivity, and vocal flexibility while powerfully demanding that listeners confront hard truths about racism, gender roles and discrimination, ageism, the social responsibilities of politics, and displaced populations. Period.”
- I Care if You Listen review of the Silent Voices album
“The choral songs at the heart of this work are performed with confidence, energy and tenderness (and from memory) by the 50 skilled singers of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. The sheer beauty of their singing was captivating. Ms. Berkun-Menaker is a remarkable choral director. It was heartening to see them basking in the standing ovation that “Black Mountain Songs” won from the audience that filled the theater.”
- The New York Times reviewing Black Mountain Songs at BAM