VOCAL MUSIC EDUCATION

Our Vocal Music Partnership with the New York City Professional Performing Arts High School in mid-Manhattan is now in its 14th year, with a team of Chorale Artist Teachers working throughout the school year teaching musicianship, music theory, voice instruction, performance technique and choral performance to gifted and motivated students. These students live throughout New York City and are accepted into the school through a series of competitive auditions.

Throughout the school year, students at the Professional Performing Arts High School perform both solo and ensemble performances. The Choir has showcased its talent at various prestigious venues, such as David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, The National Arts Club, The Signature Theater, and the Manhattan Theater Club, by invitation for the NYC Department of Education’s School’s Chancellor.

They have also been invited to perform at the United Nations and the New York Stock Exchange, in collaboration with UNICEF, for the #Imagine project, at the Invitational New York City High School Choral Festival at Hunter College/CUNY, at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum for the Dedication Ceremony of the Space Shuttle Enterprise, and at the opening of The Vessel at Hudson Yards, with Andra Day and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

After-school choruses in high schools, enabling young people to develop their musical and performing talents in a creative environment.
Series of vocal workshops for students, focusing on performance skills, methods and repertory.
Concert tours of schools in all 5 Boroughs, including performances and workshops with the choirs in each school.

Click Here to see the PPAS Choir’s 2022 Spring Concert at Church of the Blessed Sacrament, featuring Mozart’s Coronation Mass.

The 26th Annual National Chorale High School Choral Festival took place in May 2019 at Hunter College/CUNY with over 800 high school singers participating. Vagarshak Ohanyan, Distinguished Conductor.

The 6th annual National Chorale Middle School Choral Festival took place May, 2019, with Steven Vaughan as Guest Conductor. The 9th annual Elementary School Choral Festival took place May, 2019, with JessAnn Smith as Guest Conductor. Both took place at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan with over 1,000 young student singers participating.

The National Chorale Elementary, Middle School, and High School Choral Festivals are the only Festivals of their kind in New York City. Watch the Chorale’s Virtual Choral Festivals presented in Spring 2021 on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJl85B6Evwh9e01w07xFFXA

 

MUSIC EDUCATION INITIATIVES

National Chorale's Vocal Music Education Initiatives often involve multiple schools with culturally underserved children. Participation in these programs helps to integrate students into the school community, encourages regular school attendance, and improves their academic skills. National Chorale aims to expand the number of programs in schools to include and bring the joys of singing and music to as many young people as possible through the following projects:

  • Year-long Artist-in-Residence Programs allow Chorale artists to work with students weekly throughout the school year in elementary, intermediate, and high schools.

  • High school after-school choruses give young people a unique opportunity to cultivate their musical and performing abilities in a nurturing and artistic setting.

  • Concert tours bring the magic of music to schools across all 5 Boroughs, with captivating performances and engaging workshops alongside the talented choirs in each school.

Every year, these Chorale programs provide over 5,000 New York City children with the chance to engage in a diverse array of exciting vocal music activities.

For 55 years, the Handel's Messiah Sing-In at David Geffen Hall has been New York's most popular Holiday Season annual music event, featuring hundreds of student singers.

Free student tickets to Chorale concerts at David Geffen Hall allows more than 1,200 students to attend Chorale performances at  Lincoln Center each Season.

 

National Chorale Education Programs Staff

Vagarshak Ohanyan

Principal Conductor for National Chorale Educational Programs

  • Vagarshak Ohanyan, Conductor, Baritone, Educator, and Voice Teacher, was born in the former Soviet Union. In 2007, he performed in New York in a concert production of Leoncavalloʼs Pagliacci, singing Silvio. At the New York City Opera, he debuted as Sid in Pucciniʼs La Fanciulla Del West. In March, he performed with the Bachanalia Orchestra at St.Peterʼs Church. Last summer, he recorded a CD with Carlos Luis Garcia of Pucciniʼs opera IlTabarro.

    With the Armenian Philharmonic he sang Sharpless in Madame Butterfly. As a guest soloist, he appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, in a concert production of Rachmaninoffʼs Francesca Da Rimini in January 2002 at Avery Fisher Hall.

    In March 2002, he performed songs by Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall. He sang a baritone solo in Durufleʼs Requiem with the Plymouth choir and orchestra at Plymouth Church. In 1997-98, he performed at the Tchaikovsky Rediscoveries Festival at Bard College and at the Trinity Church. He also performed at Carnegie Hall with the Russian Chamber Chorus and was invited to participate Virtosi Moskow Conductor Vladimir Spivakov Moscow Cantata at Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood with the Russian American Youth Orchestra and Chorus of New York. In 2007 he became an ensemble member and vocal coach for Hampton Synagogue. One of his distinguished students is New York and Hampton Synagogue cantor Netanel Hershtik.

    Other highlights include solo recitals with the Boston Chamber Orchestra and the Rhode Island Chorale. He was a soloist in Faureʼs and Mozartʼs Requiems with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Russia) in 1994-95. Mr. Ohanyan continues to perform internationally at many prestigious festivals and opera houses. As a member of the Artist in Residence Program of National Chorale he teaches advanced voice and is a principal conductor of the elite choir at Professional Performing Arts School New York City.

    Mr. Ohanyan holds a Doctorate of Arts Ed. and a MA in Vocal Performance from the Armenian State Conservatory and a certificate from the Julliard School. In 1996, he became a union member of the American Guild of Musical Artists. Vagharshak is a CO founder of the 2009 Youth Talent (AYT) Music Competition at Carnegie Hall. A month ago, Mr. Ohanyan was awarded with a medal from the government of Armenia, their highest award for education and dedication to the arts - a diploma for a Professor Honoris Causa Degree from the Yerevan Haybusak University (International Academy of Education.)

 

Dr. Jeryl Cunningham-Fleming

Artist Teacher & Program Coordinator for the Professional Performing Arts High School .

  • Jeryl Cunningham has been praised for her “gorgeous, full voice” (Lexington Herald-Leader). Her vocal artistry has been heard in more than ten countries and on four continents. Her versatile and vibrant voice, paired with her fervent advocacy of African American music, makes her a favored soloist for leading ensembles, including the Boys Choir of Harlem and the American Spiritual Ensemble, and prestigious venues, including the United Nations and Lincoln Center.

    Ms. Cunningham’s repertoire encompasses opera, oratorio, choral masterworks, jazz, and art song. Operatic roles include the Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Contessa Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), and Clara (Porgy and Bess). But, interpretation of the African American spiritual is a high point of her artistry, drawing on her rich heritage. Her debut CD entitled, Stand the Storm: Anthems, Hymns and Spirituals of Faith and Hope was released in 2016.

    Ms. Cunningham is a regular soloist and Assistant Director with the American Spiritual Ensemble, that performs Negro Spirituals, opera, jazz, and Broadway tunes highlighting the Black experience in concerts in the United States, Europe, and South America. She has recorded several CDs with the Ensemble and was an integral part of two widely viewed PBS documentaries that featured the Ensemble, THE SPIRITUALS (Dos Vatos Productions, 2007), and a special concert filmed in Lexington, KY, American Spiritual Ensemble (KET, 2017).

    Ms. Cunningham received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance at Oakwood University. She obtained her master’s degree in vocal performance at Mannes College of Music; and has completed a doctoral degree at the University of Kentucky.