On Jan. 16, the Campanella Children’s Educational Center and Children’s Choir presented a concert at St. Giles Church in Northbrook, where children age 3-18 performed in five member choirs, along with one adult Chamber Choir.
“At Campanella, we believe that every child has a potential to do well in art – we just need to figure out what it is and nurture their talent.” Said artistic director Marianna Kosaya. “That’s the major reason why we decided to expand beyond the choir, offering a variety of art classes.”
When Kosaya founded Campanella Children’s Choir and Educational Center in 2000, she was looking for a name and decided on “Campanella,” the Italian word meaning little bell or bluebell, because of the wealth of music description in the Italian language, and because children’s voices have a ringing sound.
Kosaya, a classically trained musician born in Kiev, Ukraine, wanted to bring the power of music and its ability to change lives to the center’s mission. A few years after emigrating to the United States in the mid-1990s, Kosaya founded the Campanella Children’s Choir and Educational Center and said it started out quite small. Today, there are 120 students enrolled in their interdisciplinary arts programs overall, with 90 participating in the Campanella Choir. Kosaya also maintains an active voice and piano studio in addition to her collaborations with a number of Chicago-area musical ensembles.
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The most recent concert provided audience members with a journey back to the beginnings of the American jazz era. Choral performances included accompaniments on piano, saxophone, bass and guitar, along with a musical interlude of George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” for piano. Industrious and iconic choral highlights like H. Warren’s “Chattanooga Choo Choo” were accented by Mexican folk songs and African-American spiritual music, each section further exploring the cultural influences of the Jazz genre.
“This year, we wanted to expand a bit beyond our classical music repertoire and incorporate jazz numbers from classic American musicals and Latin-American songs,” Kosaya said. “This was a special concert for us, with music that we had never done before.”
Campanella Concert Choir member and soloist, Alice Kapmar, age 9, of Northbrook, has studied piano for five years and more recently, the cello, said.
“Singing jazz is a lot of fun because it’s very energetic compared to the classical music we’ve been doing,” Kapmar said. “Singing in the choir has been good for me because I am not very comfortable performing and talking in front of people, but with Campanella I’ve become part of a team.”
In recent years, the Campanella Choir has also done several projects to bring different art disciplines together, organizing combined classes and creating multimedia performances that feature music, spoken word and visual art.
Upcoming concert performances include “American Jazz and Latin Music” at Northbrook Public Library on Feb. 5, as part of the library’s “Parisian Salon Concerts” series, hosted by Didier Lepauw, formerly first violinist of the Paris Symphony.
“We believe that the choir builds character,” Kosaya said. “Our kids have to work together, and every person’s talent contributes to a great whole. Taking part in a choir (or a class) teaches kids how to be responsible, how to make and keep commitments and help each other out. I hope that when they perform, they get to see firsthand how music can move people.”
Gina Grillo is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.