Portland Youth Choir Composer-in-Residence program featured at Northwest’s
American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference in January.

OREGON REPERTORY SINGERS YOUTH CHOIR / COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE STACEY PHILIPPS

Portland, OR. (December 28, 2023)

ORS Youth Choir has been selected to perform at the Northwest American Choral Directors Association 2024 Regional Conference to highlight their innovative Composer-in-Residence program. The session presentation, “Think Choral, Shop Local! Commissioning in your Community,” will demonstrate the breadth of projects ORS Youth Choir and local composer Stacey Philipps have undertaken over the last two seasons as part of their rebuilding efforts post-Covid. Several of Philipps’ original commissions will be performed, and Philipps and Artistic Director Aubrey Patterson will share what they have learned from this unique collaboration including practical advice on finding local composers and commissioning their work, to the nuts and bolts of contracts and deadlines.

“Working with a local composer creates meaningful, relevant, engaging, personal experiences for singers, and builds community beyond the choir, while offering a unique, collaborative musical experiences.” – Aubrey Patterson, Artistic Director

“We’re so excited to share what we’ve made and what’s possible in almost every community by developing a local, ongoing ensemble-composer connection! The singers gain insights into the creative process, see themselves in the music that’s tailored to the ensemble, and the community is represented and enriched: Win, win, win!” – Stacey Philipps, Composer-inResidence

Philipps begins each composition by asking the singers to share their feelings on the topic of the song, making their voices a central part of the composition process. For example, in 2021 Philipps asked students to share their favorite things about autumn, which came together in several songs: What I Like About Fall, How They Fall, Looking Forward, and Gratitude. The lyrics for these works—and the pieces that have followed since—were directly inspired by their responses. This is just one of the ways in which this commission is collaborative. It’s a novel experience for these young singers, giving them a profound connection to the music they are performing.

Currently in her third season as ORS Youth Choir Artistic Director, Patterson spearheaded this partnership and will lead the presentation with Philipps on January 26, 2024 at Gonzaga University as one of three “Encounter Choir Sessions.” Details here: https://www.nwacda.org/encounter-choirs/think-choral%2C-shop-local!-commissioning-inyour-community 

ORS Youth Choir serves approximately 140 young singers in the greater Portland and SW Washington area with a growing staff of passionate educators teaching music education, music literacy, and providing mountaintop musical experiences to all singers. A non-audition group, ORS Youth Choir offers financial assistance for both its year-long kindergarten through 12th grade program (September through May) and Summer Sing, a summer day camp offered to students 1 st–5 th grades for two weeks in July and August. Enroll today! Learn more about ORS Youth Choir and their programs at orsingers.org/youth-choir