KU Youth Chorus director Debra Hedden conducts during a weekly rehearsal at Murphy Hall. A group of about 30 fourth- through eighth-graders meets Thursdays from October to May on Kansas University’s campus.

Children in the KU Youth Chorus rehearse at Murphy Hall.

Sydnee Rheums has a simple goal.

“I want to try out for ‘American Idol,'” the 11-year-old says. “My mom tried out and didn’t make it. I want to prove to the judges our family has talent.”

And that’s why, on Thursday afternoons, she’s sitting in a rehearsal space in Kansas University’s Murphy Hall, singing along with 30 or so other children in grades four through eight.

This is the KU Youth Chorus. In its fourth year, the group exists both to teach young singers and music students at the university.

It’s not as well known as the Lawrence Children’s Choir, which tours internationally. But director Debra Hedden, associate professor of music, says its role is different.

“We don’t have the same structure as the Lawrence Children’s Choir,” Hedden says. “We fill a different niche.”

Hedden founded the choir when she came to KU and modeled it after a similar chorus at the University of Northern Iowa, where she previously taught. The group meets once a week, from 4:30 p.m. to 5:45 p.m., from October through May.

A year-end concert is scheduled for 5 p.m. May 7 in Murphy Hall’s room 328.

For the young singers, the goal is for them to learn more difficult music than they typically learn in school, and to learn more complex musical concepts.

“Because the music is harder than they’d encounter in public schools, there’s a challenge factor,” Hedden says. “And being around each other, they have a common goal.”

Students also enjoy being on campus, Hedden says.

“I think that’s a draw,” she says.

Hedden directs some of the pieces, but the class also serves as a learning lab for 17 undergraduate and one graduate KU student.

“It’s kind of an assembly line,” Hedden says.

Nicole Reiske, a senior from Lawrence, is one of those undergraduate students. She says the KU Youth Choir allows her to learn the sorts of classroom skills they don’t teach in books.

“For me, it shows me what I can really use in the classroom,” she says. “You get lots of ideas, but you never know until you take them out here.”

For James Levy, a senior from Prairie Village, the directing experience reinforces what he’s learned in class.

“It’s not completely different,” he says. “It adds to the experience.”

It adds to the musical experience for the singers, too.

Izaak Workman, 11 and a sixth-grader at Broken Arrow School, likes the variety of music the group sings.

“We get to sing a lot of songs I’ve heard about,” he says.

He also likes the variety of directors.

“There’s a bunch of students,” he says. “I know some of their names.”

Sydnee, a fifth-grader at Deerfield School, says she’s meet many new friends in her two years with the KU Youth Chorus.

“It’s really fun to see how you use your voice on different songs,” she says. “And some of the conductors are teachers are really wacky.”

Sydnee is looking forward to the upcoming performance.

“It’s your one moment to shine with your singing,” she says.