DORCHESTER, MA (March 5, 2015) Dorchester’s own Boston City Singers Tour Choir is thrilled to have won a spot on the inaugural season of WGBH’s singing competition “Sing That Thing!” The television series, which will premiere on April 17th at 8:30pm on WGBH 2, aims to highlight the “impressive array of talent” found in New England. Boston City Singers, celebrating its 20th anniversary season this year, is one of 24 singing groups from across southern New England to make it past the preliminary audition, and hopes to progress to the finale in May.
The 45-voice Tour Choir, under the direction of Founder and Artistic Director Jane Money, is made up of singers ages 11-18 from Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Roslindale and surrounding neighborhoods. The group has performed extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, and will travel to Costa Rica in August 2015. “Sing That Thing!” will mark their first public television appearance.
Natalie S., a 6-year member and high school senior says, “This is amazing. Boston City Singers has taken me around the world and now they’ve made it possible for us to sing on TV. We have worked very hard all year, and we were so excited to be chosen.”
“WGBH has been Boston’s leading arts broadcaster since we first went on the air six decades ago. ‘Sing That Thing!’ continues a strong tradition of connecting new audiences with the arts,” said Liz Cheng, the station’s general manager, in a press release. “These a cappella groups, gospel choirs, classical music ensembles and large choruses are among the best New England has to offer.”
The series includes groups from four categories: high school, collegiate, small adult group (8-16 members) and large adult group (17-60 members). The groups will perform over six episodes, including a live-to-tape finale featuring the top eight groups (two from each category) performing a unique rendition of an original composition commissioned for the series. The first 24 groups chosen to perform on-screen have been selected from a field of more than 50 ensembles.
To learn more about “Sing That Thing!” visit www.wgbh.org/SingThatThing
About Boston City Singers
Boston City Singers was founded in 1995 in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood to provide outstanding opportunities for children to come together through music in their own neighborhoods.
Twenty years later, our programs provide comprehensive sequential music instruction to over 500 young people aged 4 – 18 in 15 different programs in the Greater Boston area. No child is ever turned away for inability to pay tuition, and over 60% of singers receive financial assistance.
Weekly rehearsals are designed to provide singers with well-balanced sequential music instruction coupled with performance, youth development, cultural exploration, leadership training and community service components.
Singers develop progressive mastery of skills with children from backgrounds different than their own, engaging hearts and minds during the critical after-school hours. Emphasis is placed on personal discipline, teamwork and group cooperation. Through ongoing mentor relationships with older youth and teachers who share common interests, singers are connected to a strong and supportive community.