Cadenza Choir whets littlest singers' appetites for music / LJWorld.com

Archive for Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Photo by Nick Krug. Enlarge photo.

Cadenza Choir members rehearse on Tuesday at Free State High School.

By Terry Rombeck

October 23, 2007

Cadenza Choir

The Candenza Choir rehearses before a performance. Enlarge video

Photo by Nick Krug

Klara Hinson gives it her all during rehearsal for the Cadenza Choir last Tuesday at Free State High School.

Elliot Herrod has a pretty typical kid answer when asked why he likes singing in the Cadenza Choir.

"I get to have fun," the 6-year-old says.

His mother, Kellie Smith Herrod, has another answer.

"He can go in grumpy, and he'll leave happy," she says. "When he's in there, you can just see his mood change."

The group's director, Janeal Krehbiel, has an even deeper answer.

"It's a good way to whet their appetites" for music, she says. "It's a way to give them a nonthreatening, nonperformance experience - just a chance to sing."

In its third year, the Cadenza Choir is the newest addition to the Lawrence Children's Choir. It's for children in first through third grades, and in addition to the Choristers (for children in third through sixth grades), it's part of a system meant to prepare young singers for the full-fledged, touring Children's Choir.

"It gets them acclimated to the idea that everybody can sing," Krehbiel says. "We sing short, easy, successful pieces."

The choir has its fall performance at 5:30 tonight at Drury Place, 1510 Saint Andrews Drive.

Its next eight-week season starts in January. Rehearsals are from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays at Free State High School, 4700 Overland Drive.

"It's fun," Krehbiel says of the group. "The enthusiasm is so right there in your face. It's so exciting to work with an age where everything is new and adventurous."