Girls Empowered Through Music (GETMusic), a new initiative of Pennsylvania Girlchoir, will bring together more than 350 girls from across Philadelphia for a weekend of intensive music making. The festival is made possible by the support of John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, as part of its Knight Arts Challenge.
Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge funds innovative projects that engage and enrich Philadelphia’s communities.
Planned for fall 2014 for girls in grades seven through twelve, the GETMusic festival is Pennsylvania Girlchoir’s creative answer to activist Eve Ensler’s call to girls to “be their authentic selves,” giving young female singers the affirming experience of learning and performing repertoire written and conducted by women. The weekend will culminate in a public performance at a major Philadelphia cultural venue.
Vincent Metallo received a Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia 2013 award, with Donna Frisby-Greenwood (L), Philadelphia Program Director for Knight Foundation. photo credit Susan Beard
“When you sing with a choir, especially a choir of such excellence as Pennsylvania Girlchoir, you are able to do something that far surpasses what you could do alone,” notes Susan Ashbaker, former executive director of Commonwealth Youthchoirs, of which Pennsylvania Girlchoir is a member choir. “The empowerment the girls will feel when they raise their collective voices is something they can each take with them for the rest of their lives. It teaches unity, strength, confidence. It perfectly melds with our mission to provide superior choral music education and performance opportunities for young people from diverse economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds and to pursue artistic excellence that inspires performers and audience alike.
“Musical experiences like the one being put together by the Pennsylvania Girlchoir are an important way to develop and empower the city’s future creative minds,” said Dennis Scholl, VP/Arts at Knight Foundation.
Details on the festival and a call for festival participants will be released as the festival weekend approaches. Learn more about Pennsylvania Girlchoir at pennsylvaniagirlchoir.org.
About Pennsylvania Girlchoir:
Pennsylvania Girlchoir, under the direction of Vincent Metallo, Music Director, maintains a repertoire steeped in the classical tradition and enhanced by music from many cultures and time periods. Established in 2004, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir has sung with the region’s most distinguished ensembles and received critical acclaim. Music critic Michael Caruso said of their recent performance of Fauré’s Requiem with the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, “The beauty of the singing of the Motet Choir … was nothing short of breathtaking. The girls sang with flawless tuning, immaculate blend, effortless projection and exquisite phrasing.” Pennsylvania Girlchoir is a memberchoir of Commonwealth Youthchoirs.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation:
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. We believe that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged.