Orange County NC Website
Organization <br />Description <br />Sisters’ Voices (SV) is a choral community of girls founded by Leandra <br />Strope in 2008. Initially supported by private funding and volunteer time, it <br />has evolved into a Chapel Hill based community of four ensembles, camps, <br />and paid staff, which this year has served about 80 girls and gender <br />expansive youth in grades K-9. W hile the SV choral program is top-notch, <br />the heart of its mission is to lift up and encourage our singers to find their <br />unique voice to thrive and be leaders in our community. <br />The SV curriculum begins with SV-One (K-1) which explores singing and <br />musical concepts through games and folk repertoire. As students move up <br />in grades, they progress to ensembles (SV-Two, SV-Three and SV-Four) <br />that teach more complex music skills, sing more difficult repertoire including <br />songs in many different languages, require more time commitment, and give <br />more frequent performances, including a small opera/theatrical <br />performance. The older singers also have programming on leadership and <br />social issues. W e offer summer camps with different themes each year. <br />This summer there will be a Musical Theater W orkshop for 5th to 10th <br />graders, a Choral Camp for 3rd to 5th graders, and a Leadership Camp for <br />6th to 10th graders. <br />Typically, SV performs winter and spring concerts and a musical theater <br />performance featuring the SV-Four ensemble, each with an audience of <br />about 200. Last October, many SV singers participated in the NC Sings! <br />event, part of the NC Chapter of the American Choral Directors <br />Association. SV groups have performed at the Carrboro Music Festival, <br />ClydeFest, and OCAC First Fridays at the Mill. SV has sung the national <br />anthem for Girls on the Run events and the 2018 Harlem Globetrotters <br />visit, and has collaborated with artists, musicians and the Paperhand <br />Puppet Intervention at the Carrboro ArtsCenter. In April, SV sponsored and <br />participated in a concert with touring singer/songwriter Joy <br />Zimmerman.These events have allowed Sisters’ Voices to share their <br />music with countless other individuals in our community. <br />W hile our singers are racially diverse, we are working to attract a socio- <br />economically diverse group by building diversity in our leadership through <br />interns and our Board of Directors, which will help us reach communities <br />that may not be aware of SV. W e also have a scholarship program and our <br />tuition is built on a sliding scale. W e never turn singers away because of <br />inability to pay. Our staff consists of Artistic Director, Leandra Strope, with <br />30+ years of choral conducting experience, and Managing Director, Jenny <br />W alters, who also works in the CHCCS system. In addition, we have <br />Social Media Director, Matt Cottrell, an SV alum who identifies as a queer, <br />non-binary person. This past year we have had a student helper, Yadira <br />Vargas Arriaga, and a conducting assistant, Jada Poteat, both women of <br />color who strive to engage children from underserved communities. Our <br />accompanist is Kristin Trangsrud. The Board of Directors consists of 7 <br />women, including two who are women of color, and a native Spanish <br />speaker who is connected to the local Latinx community. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 200AB7AA-A897-4845-886C-92CE8C1C9EF5