News
Singing -- Of, By and For Whom?
Editorial by Alice Parker
In Southern New Jersey, there is a remarkable chorus called Joyful Noise, which unites adults ‘with physical and neurological challenges to develop a sense of pride, confidence, self-esteem, value and the potential to contribute to our world.’ In February they presented a session at the ACDA Eastern Regional Convention in Hartford, CT, led by their founder and director Allison Fromm, and myself.
I became interested in the group when Allison brought a video of one of their programs to a Chorus America Conference. Here was a group of people literally lifted out of themselves in the act of singing. It was a clear demonstration of the true value of choral song: it may lead to transcendence for all of us. We lose for the moment the constraints that our existence places around us, and merge our voices and minds in the sound coming from our throats.
It doesn’t happen by accident. In this case, there’s a large amount of background planning – just getting people there (most are supported by Bancroft Neurohealth and live in surrounding communities), providing a gathering meal and aides, choosing repertoire, leading rehearsals and appearances, providing transportation and, in the case of Hartford, overnight accommodations. Conductors of this kind of group must truly have a sense of being called to their profession, and must gain their principal satisfaction from the effect of the singing on the singers.
Do we teach this in our schools and conservatories? Most of the time we seem to be dealing in ideals: the perfect, balanced sound, the careful diction, the historical accuracy, the formal concert. There’s nothing wrong with this, but it is surely not the whole picture. My thoughts about preparing leaders to work with choruses like Joyful Noise can also be applied to working with small children, or in retirement homes, or hospitals and nursing homes. The difference seems to be in the principal aim of the activity: is it to serve the ‘art’, or the ‘people’? I don’t mean to force a choice: in the best cases, it does both. But I believe firmly in art-for-humans’-sake. And when one begins with that presumption, the other goals fall into a different relationship.
Joyful Noise will never sing with a perfectly focused tone, pure intonation or a balanced texture. But they can aim at those things, as Allison does in each rehearsal. There’s a warm-up period with stretches, tunings and lip-and-tongue calisthenics. There’s movement, laughter, listening to one another, competition for solo lines, and uninhibited comments on their current achievements. But there’s also deep breathing, improved posture, moments of lovely sound and clear words and communicative intensity. New songs are taught by rote and old songs polished. Rounds are attempted and triumphantly achieved. About half the singers like to have a book, but most work is done by ear and heart.
And do they love to sing! It’s visible in their faces and bodies, in their enthusiasm for the songs and the way they reach out to audiences as they perform. They are literally moving in a world without disabilities, restored and made whole by their absorption into the universe of sound. One wheelchair-bound singer told me of her first experience of floating in water – the incredible sensation of feeling no weight pulling her body down, of being able to move freely as others did. I think the singing makes a similar difference for all these singers, and for all of us human beings.
We can lose our fears and disabilities, we can overcome our intellectual, linguistic, physical and spiritual differences, we can work with our neighbors to achieve a common goal, we can transcend our daily lives in the act of singing together. When leaders hold this as the aim, and regard the technical aspects of the ‘art’ as means to that end, lives can be transformed. Lives will be transformed, and perhaps the political world as well. “Make babies, not war”, said the bumper stickers of the 60’s. What’s our counterpart? “Sing together, not alone”. Or “Singers of the World, Unite”. Or how about a “United Nations of Song”, where all the choruses of the world join to out sing the voices of hate, fear, pride and selfishness that divide us. Now that would truly be a Joyful Noise!
reprinted with permission from Melodious Accord Newsletter, March 2008
UIUC News Bureau
The News Bureau of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recently published a story on Joyful Noise titled "U. of I. music student leads choral group of persons with disabilities."
Click here to go to the News Bureau site to read the article.
In The News
Joyful Noise members seem to have captured the hearts of the Philadelphia and New Jersey media! KYW radio recorded a rehearsal and broadcast interviews with two of our members in early December. Our December 2 concert at the Discovery Museum appeared on FOX 29 news and ABC Action News 6. Our December 11 Holiday Showcase with Kardon Chorale appeared on NBC 10 News and CBS 3 Eyewitness News. CBS also included Joyful Noise’s performance in its holiday special, Celebrating the Season, which aired on December 18, 25 & 26.
Area newspapers are covering Joyful Noise’s Mission to Inspire and trip to Hartford to sing with Alice Parker. On January 8, the Courier Post published a feature article with photos of our performance with the Kardon Chorale. The Philadelphia Inquirer also published a feature article on January 20!
Click here to view the Philadelphia area news broadcasts on Joyful Noise.
Click here to read the Courier-Post feature on Joyful Noise.
Click here to read the Philadelphia Inquirer feature on Joyful Noise.
Fund Drive Update
Updated March 20, 2008
By Christine Dwyer, Treasurer
Since December 2007, 105 contributors have donated $16,021 and one additional sponsor has pledged $1,000 for a total of $17,021. We have achieved 68% of our goal and hope to raise an additional $7,979.
Our Fund Drive is helping to subsidize our singers’ travel and staffing costs for the February 15 trip to Hartford, where we sang for the American Choral Directors Association 2008 Eastern Regional Convention. Members were thrilled to sing with Alice Parker and to receive a standing ovation from more than 100 conductors! Funds raised also enabled us to present a Saturday afternoon concert and sing-along for Hartford area residents with disabilities, their families and caregivers, and the broader Hartford community as part of our Mission to Inspire.
Joyful Noise's presentation at the ACDA convention inspired several performance invitations from new friends! Gifts from our friends and families will enable us to accept these wonderful invitations.
We are very grateful to all the individuals and businesses listed on our Donor Honor Roll and Partners pages for their generous support! Contributions in any amount are deeply appreciated.
Please consider adding your name to our lists of friends & supporters by printing out our donor form or donating online. Then check for weekly updates on our progress.
On a Mission to Inspire
This season, Joyful Noise has initiated a Mission to Inspire to bring their joy of singing to conductors, music therapists and educators from the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions.
The American Choral Directors Association has invited Joyful Noise to appear at the Eastern Regional Convention in Hartford, Connecticut on February 16, 2008, when members will demonstrate their learning process for conductors from throughout the region. Renowned composer, conductor, and song leader, Alice Parker, who led Joyful Noise in their Melodious Memories concert in June 2004, will once again join Joyful Noise for an interest session entitled, Melodies that Sing: We Love to Sing this Song. Joyful Noise Director, Allison Fromm, explained, "We hope that our singing will inspire musicians in other states to launch similar ensembles and enrich the lives of people with disabilities in their own communities."
Discovery Museum Loves Joyful Noise
By Mark Gary
On March 31, 2007 the members of Joyful Noise returned to one of its favorite performing venues. The singers served as
minstrels to the patrons at the Discovery Museum in Cherry Hill, capping its ‘Celebration of the Arts’ month. The Discovery Museum plays host to hundreds of families each week, looking to “discover” new and interesting phenomena. On this day our choir treated many of those families to some novel, but mostly familiar songs.
The program, “Songs for Children,” featured nearly 20 songs appealing to our younger generation. Indeed, the families at the performance, supplied with our word sheets enthusiastically engaged in the singing of many of the songs. The audience joined Joyful Noise not only in singing “The Itsy Bitsy Spider,” but also in the hand motions. Other familiar tunes sung included “B-I-N-G-O,” “Baby Beluga,” “On Top of Spaghetti,” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!”
The enthusiasm with which Joyful Noise members sang was equaled only by the joy and exuberance of the receptive audience of over 70. Many members have remarked how “fun” and “cool” it is to sing for children. The staff at the Discovery Museum was, as usual, extremely courteous and helpful, keeping distractions to a minimum while engaging in the performance. The Museum’s Program Director, Paul McElwee, was so impressed with the concert that Joyful Noise has been invited back to the museum to perform twice this year: during the holiday season and in the spring.
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“The performance was both a treat and an inspiration for all who had the opportunity to watch.” — Paul McElwee, Program Director
Garden State Discovery Museum
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Following the concert, choir members, family and staff went out to eat at P.J. Whelihan’s. The fun and energy never quite ends with the concert, as the laughing and talking continued over lunch.
We eagerly look forward to our upcoming performances at the Discovery Museum: December 2 at 2:00 PM and Saturday, May 31, 2008 @ 2:00 PM
Kardon Chorale to Join Joyful Noise for Holiday Concert
By Allison Fromm
Anne Matlack, a member of Joyful Noise’s International Advisory Committee, has a real gift for connecting people through music. Anne was once Allison’s Freshman Chorus Director at Yale and now conducts Harmonium Choral Society in Madison, NJ. In April 2002, members of Harmonium joined Joyful Noise for our first joint concert. Together, we sang “Scalloped Potatoes,” “The Serpent Song,” “Goodnight Sweetheart,” and lots of other fun songs!
Now Anne has introduced Joyful Noise to Christine Wineberg, Director of the Kardon Chorale. Affiliated with the Kardon Institute for Arts Therapy in Philadelphia, the Chorale is a community choral group bringing teens and adults with developmental disabilities together with family members and volunteer singers from the community. Just like members of Joyful Noise, singers in the Kardon Chorale love making new friends!
Members of the Kardon Chorale will join Joyful Noise for our Holiday concert at Echelon Mall in Voorhees: Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 PM. The Kardon Chorale has also invited Joyful Noise for a pizza party and rehearsal on Tuesday, December 4 at Kardon in Philadelphia.
The two choruses will share their special, commissioned pieces with each other. They will sing together Jon Washburn’s The “We Love to Sing” Song and Roland Woehr’s You Get Proud by Practicing, along with many familiar Christmas carols and Hanukkah songs.
Please come celebrate the holidays by singing with us on Tuesday, December 11 at 7:00 at Echelon Mall in Voorhees, New Jersey!
Take Me Out to the Ball Game: Joyful Noise Sings National Anthem for Camden Riversharks
By Nancy Longo
It was a beautiful and memorable night: September 7, 2007, the Friday after Labor Day weekend. The air was filled with a sense of holding onto the spirit of summer and baseball. Campbell’s Field, home of the Riversharks in Camden, New Jersey, held many spectators that evening. All were there for the simple pleasure of enjoying a good old-fashioned baseball game.
Such were the emotions of the twenty-five Joyful Noise members present. Yet they had an additional reason for excitement: they had been invited to sing the Star-Spangled Banner to open this Atlantic League Professional Baseball game.
Needless to say, their hearts and souls were beaming with pride, anxiety, anticipation, and, of course, joy. They arrived early to practice on the field, and during a resting moment, were unexpectedly visited and hugged by Riversharks’ mascot, Finley. Members burst with enthusiasm as Finley “helped” to conduct their singing and played the keyboard! Then the big moment came. The group stood at attention with the American flag waving in the background and sang for all to hear Joyful Noise.
Members were also thrilled that their performance was filmed for broadcast on NBC News Channel 10 later that evening. They then settled in to enjoy the Bancroft summer picnic at the ballpark with all their friends.
view the Riversharks photo album
The Dream Begins: Bancroft Day 2007
By Martha Henriksson-Witt (a Swedish Joyful Noise fan)
Feeling a little tired and cold, I arrived at the Bancroft grounds in Haddonfield for Bancroft Day – The Dream Begins. The sun was shining and the air was clear and crisp. All around people were getting organized and setting up their tables. The street was soon filled with families and friends. At noon the crowd was ushered to the side because the parade was about to begin, and very soon all you could hear was “joyful noise!” The choir enthusiastically moved down the street as they sang loudly and clearly, first in Zulu and then in English: “Siyahamba ekukhanyen' kwenkhos' … We are marching in the light of God.” What a wonderful march!
After arriving at Lullworth the choir assembled in front of the house and proceeded to sing a dozen songs that had been carefully chosen for the occasion. Joyful Noise’s dedicated conductors, Allison Fromm, Cathy Sonnenberg, and Mark Gary, had put together a wonderful program. The selections encompassed a variety of well-known classics and music that had been specially composed for the choir, each song being equally enjoyable to listen to. Two songs that particularly stayed with me after the concert were: “Our Favorite Things” and “This Land is Your Land.” Joyful Noise also dedicated two songs to the memory of Randy Welsh: “Memories Flow,” composed for the chorus by Alice Parker, and “Margaret Bancroft’s Dream” with words written by Bancroft’s own Debbie Conner.
It became apparent to me that Joyful Noise is the result of great cooperation between the singers and conductors, and the result is magic! Prior to this weekend I had never heard a Joyful Noise performance, and now I certainly hope to hear the chorus again in the future. October 14, 2007 turned out to be a day that I will remember for many years to come. Many thanks to the members of Joyful Noise for giving me such an inspiring experience!
Best wishes to you all and good luck with future performances!
Joyful Noise Launches Fund Drive with Baja Bash
By Cathy Sonnenberg
On August 26, Joyful Noise took its first step on the road to Hartford, Connecticut for our "Mission to Inspire.” Over 60 of our family and friends gathered at Baja Fresh on this steamy summer Sunday in Voorhees for the first fundraiser in the history of these joyful singers.
We feasted on the Mexican fare Baja Fresh offered and enjoyed our friends in a true party atmosphere. After dinner Joyful Noise sang two repertoire favorites: "You Are My Sunshine,” and "Don't Throw Your Trash In My Backyard" for our appreciative audience.
Baja Fresh donated 15 percent of the net sales from our many supporters.
