The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Preparatory Chorus
Preparatory Chorus Portrait for the 2024-2025 Season
Children's Chorus performing "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" with The Cleveland Orchestra and Blossom Festival Chorus
The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Preparatory Chorus
The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Preparatory Chorus
The Preparatory Chorus was formed in 2005 by Dr. Ann Usher. This training choir focuses on establishing a foundation of vocal technique, musical literacy, and musicianship through quality children's choir literature. By developing musical skills and performing in public, the children acquire poise, increase self-esteem, and establish a solid foundation in vocal production techniques. The Preparatory Chorus is open to singers in grades 4 through 6 via registration.
Members of the Preparatory Chorus will strengthen their vocal production and choral performance skills and learn sight-reading using movable “do” solfège and Kodály/Curwen hand signs. Students will also develop leadership skills that will help them strengthen the other choirs in which they participate. A strong majority of Children's Chorus members spend at least one year in the Preparatory Chorus prior to acceptance into the COCC, and Preparatory Chorus members are given first invitation to audition for the Children's Chorus in the spring.
The Cleveland Orchestra Children's Chorus
The Children’s Chorus was formed in 1967 to provide a high-quality choral group for the many orchestral works written for children’s voices, and to offer choral training to school children in the Cleveland area. Today, the Children’s Chorus regularly performs with The Cleveland Orchestra and The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus at Severance Music Center, including the annual Holiday concerts at Severance. Recent seasons have also seen performances with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra, the Akron Symphony Orchestra, and the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus. The Children's Chorus is open to singers in grades 6 through 8 via audition & application.
Over the decades, the extensive performance history has included such major works as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Britten’s War Requiem, Berlioz’s Te Deum, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, and John Adams' El Niño.
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EXPLORE OUR OTHER CHORUSES
ABOUT OUR STAFF
Jennifer Rozsa
Director, Children's Choruses​
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Jennifer Rozsa is an active conductor, music educator, clinician, and performer. She earned her master’s and bachelor’s degrees in music education, specializing in the Kodály Philosophy, from Capital University’s Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio, holds Orff-Schulwerk certifications from the San Francisco International Orff Course, and studied at the Kodály institute in Kecskemét, Hungary.
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Rozsa is deeply committed to fostering music literacy and promoting cultural representation, values that form the foundation of her work with the Children's Choruses and her elementary general music teaching in Solon, Ohio. Her prior children's chorus experience includes conducting with the Peninsula Girls Chorus and with the San Francisco Boys Chorus. She has also taught K–8 general music and choir in public, private, and charter schools in Cleveland, San Francisco, and Chicago.
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As an active guest conductor and clinician, Rozsa has presented at the Ohio Music Education Association, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, and the Cincinnati and Kent Orff Courses. She also serves as the Community Children’s Choir Repertoire and Resource Chair for the Ohio Choral Directors Association.
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Rozsa sang with The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and currently performs with the Cleveland Chamber Choir.
Jacob Young
Assistant Director, Children's Choruses
Jacob Young has been teaching music for 13 years at a variety of schools and levels in Ohio and Kentucky. He has taught teacher preparation courses at the University of Akron, and has directed choral ensembles from young children through adults. Choirs under his direction continually earn Superior and Distinguished ratings at OMEA and Kentucky Music Education Association (KMEA) Adjudicated Events. He enjoys working with developing singers to find their individual voices while promoting music literacy and musicianship in the choral rehearsal. Jacob holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from Ohio University, and is an active member of OMEA and ACDA. He has studied choral conducting with Dr. Peter Jarjisian, Charles R. Snyder, and Dr. Stephen Carraciolo. He spends his free time with his wife and four children, supporting their music and dance events, and coaching their athletic teams.
Angel Tyler
Manager, Children's Choruses
Angel Tyler joined The Cleveland Orchestra Chorus Department in the Summer of 2023. Ms. Tyler graduated from SUNY Oswego with a Bachelors of Arts in Music with a Vocal Performance concentration in 2021. While at Oswego, Angel sang with Oswego Opera Theater and was involved with the Oswego State Singers & Festival Chorus. Angel is a Cleveland Orchestra Youth Chorus (COYC) alum and is happy to return to the Cleveland area to support this amazing choral program and office.
Angel previously worked as a Residential Life Coordinator at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio for almost two years. While in Delaware, Angel sang with the Central Ohio Symphony as a featured soprano soloist for various concerts, including their annual holiday concerts. When not singing, Angel enjoys watching & reading anything sci-fi and fantasy related and chilling on the couch with her little dachshund named Wiley.