Hocking County Children's Chorus registration open

Registration opened July 15 for the 2020-2021 season of the Hocking County Children’s Chorus. The HCCC is open to all children in Hocking County in grades two through 12. This includes children in public schools, private schools, the digital academy, and those who are homeschooled. The chorus is open to children of all abilities.

The children in the chorus have a lot of fun together while they develop their talents in music, performance, and theater. A United Way Agency, the HCCC performs at various community events throughout the year, participates in local parades, and holds an annual Christmas Concert. Each spring, the HCCC presents a musical. In February, they presented Disney’s “Frozen Jr.” to a crowd of almost 1,200 people at the Logan High School Theatre.

“This will be an unusual year for us,” remarked Therese Karnes, HCCC Executive Director. “Although our calendar is typically full with parades, concerts, and special performances, we’ve been carefully monitoring the pandemic situation, and made adjustments. Medical experts stress that singing together in groups is a dangerous idea (with or without masks). In addition, right now we can’t pack auditoriums for our performances. Not wanting to simply eliminate gathering this year, we developed an alternative plan.”

With the safety of the children and their families as a top priority, changes have been made to allow the HCCC to still have a wonderful season. Karnes explained that they would not have regular vocal music performances this fall and winter. Instead, the children will focus on this year’s spring production — the junior version of Broadway’s record-setting musical, “Fiddler on the Roof”

The Chorus will plan to begin on regularly scheduled days, with staggered times, in smaller groups of 10-12 choristers, following recommended social distancing and cleaning guidelines. They will meet to rehearse lines, “block” scenes, and learn the choreography of the dances, with very limited singing.

“Because we’ll have over six months to prepare for the show, we can safely  rehearse in small groups, make use of technology and Zoom sessions to be ready for our production in March at the Logan High School Theatre,” explained Karnes. “Choristers will receive their own musical script, and a DVD/digital copy of all the music. I am hopeful that we will have this pandemic under control and/or have a vaccine by March. If not, we have a back-up plan that includes live-streaming the play if necessary.”

Tuition for the entire season is $100 for the first child, $90 for the second child of the same household, and $80 each for additional siblings. This one time fee includes all uniforms, t-shirts, music, costumes and supplies for the year. The registration deadline is Aug. 21; tuition is due at the time of registration.

For more information, or to register your child online, visit the HCCC website: http://www.hockingcochildrenschorus.org/

Registration forms are also available at the Logan-Hocking Library.