Trenton Children’s Chorus – Sunday Feb. 11
At our Sunday February 11th service we have the honor of hosting the Trenton Children’s Chorus, under the direction of esteemed soprano Dr. Rochelle Ellis.
About the Trenton Children’s Chorus
Trenton Children’s Chorus is an award-winning non-profit organization offering exceptional musical, academic, social and personal opportunities for young people in the Greater Trenton Area. Founded in 1989 as an outreach project of Nassau Presbyterian Church by Sue Ellen Page and Marcia Wood, TCC began as an entirely volunteer-run organization with 11 children in its first year. Under the leadership of Executive Artistic Director Patricia Thel, today’s program serves 140 singers in grades K-12. TCC offers choral music education and performance opportunities as well as drumming instruction, music theory instruction, tutoring, homework assistance, SAT prep, college application help, and summer camp scholarships. Tuition is on a sliding scale; no child is ever denied participation because of limited resources. In an urban area where the high school drop out rate of nearly fifty percent, 100% of TCC’s graduates attend college. TCC has performed at the White House, United Nations, National Cathedral, for the swearing-in ceremony of former U.S. Representative Rush Holt at the Library of Congress, the inauguration of Gov. Chris Christie, Princeton University, in concert with Bobby McFerrin and Dave Brubeck, and for corporate, community, church and private events in the greater Trenton area. In 2014-15 the Chorus celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Dr. Rochelle Ellis,
Music Director, Chorale Director, and TCHS/TCC Choir Director, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, and a Lecturer of voice at Princeton University. She has distinguished herself in a broad repertoire that extends from Bach and Beethoven to Verdi, Barber and Gershwin. She made her New York City Opera debut as “Serena” in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and has also performed operas with Chamber Opera Chicago and Skylight Opera Theatre. Internationally, she has performed the Verdi Requiem with the National Opera of China in Beijing, sung opera favorites at the Prague (Czech Republic) Autumn Music Festival, and performed solo recitals in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. In addition to maintaining voice studios at Westminster Choir College and Princeton University, Ms. Ellis is active in both Rider University and community outreach in music. She teaches in the Rider Educational Opportunity Program summer pre-college program, as well as in the Westminster Conservatory High School and Middle School Summer Vocal Institutes. Dr. Ellis is the Teaching Artist for The Princeton Festival Guild, where she holds opera outreach programs each summer in conjunction with the festival’s opera presentations.