Most of the time local organizations like Tacoma Symphony and Tacoma Opera are made up of adult performers only. But occasionally their compositions shift, and younger performers join their ranks at special occasions or for special purposes. And those special times represent special opportunities for adult and youth performers alike.

Sometimes younger performers are simply integrated into a production. For example, since the spring of 2005 most of the larger productions presented by Tacoma Opera have included at least two high school students in the chorus. Most of those who join these choruses are also winners of the state high school vocal competition and are bound for conservatory study, explains the company’s general director, Kathryn Smith.

 

“For some reason, the Tacoma area produces an unusual number of really good high school age singers,” Smith adds. “If they are considering becoming voice majors in college, this gives them something of a taste of what it’s like to be an opera singer … and what the time commitment is like.”

What do these generally under-18 performers bring to the mix when they serve a production hitch at Tacoma Opera? "Certainly they bring youth, however you want to characterize that," Smith says. For Smith, that means "generally a fair amount of energy” — as well as musical talent and commitment.

 

On some occasions, Tacoma Opera works with even younger performers. For productions that specifically call for children's voices, Tacoma Opera draws from the Tacoma Youth Chorus. Recent collaborations have included productions of Tosca And La Bohème.

 

Smith says that she particularly enjoys working with children's choruses, "because they are completely absorbed by what they see ... They're not only good at what they're doing, but also absorbed with watching everyone else, and they will just sit there absolutely enthralled while watching what someone else might see as a straightforward, boring rehearsal."

 

Members of the Tacoma Youth Chorus are not set to perform with Tacoma Opera this season, but another collaboration for the organization is coming this December. The group is set to perform with the Tacoma Symphony in that group’s Sounds of the Season Holiday concert. This marks the third time the chorus is performing with the symphony for the December event. And the young singers will return for another repeat matchup in the spring, to perform Orff's "Carmina Burana" with the symphony.

 

How does the Tacoma youth chorus benefit from collaborations with organizations like the Tacoma Symphony? "Using instrumental forces gives you a whole different musical experience," says chorus founder Judith Herrington, "compared to singing with a piano or organ."

 

“But I think one of the greatest benefits, is the wonderful articulation and a total quality that an orchestra can bring," she adds. "That just expands the musical palette for the singers, as well as the repertoire and the literature — it just expands the possibilities."

 

In all, Herrington believes, the young singers derive great benefit from the treatment they receive when working with groups like the symphony. The message they receive is one of "appreciation for the artistic contribution that these young musicians are bringing,” Herrington says. “That is huge in its motivation: to be treated as a professional in your presentation ... It's very reinforcing for these young musicians."

 

But not all of the benefits fall on one side of the collaboration equation. The experience brings rewards to the symphony as well, says Andy Buelow, Tacoma Symphony’s executive director. "It's a fantastic chorus," Buelow says. "It really performs at a very high level.”

 

There are practical reasons for such collaborations too. "There is specific choral literature that is written for children's voices," Buelow explains, "and some of it is very challenging, so you need a youth chorus that has a certain level of musical proficiency in order to do it well.”

 

It’s a good thing these groups found each other.