A Milestone in the Youth Masterworks Program

In the autumn of 2009, Jeannie Richardson will hand over direction of St. Paul’s Youth Masterworks Program to her successor, Kara Pekar. As we come to this significant milestone, let us remember the pleasures of the past and anticipate what the future will bring.

Early Beginnings - Before coming to King George, Jeannie taught music in the public schools in Worcester, Massachusetts. In her spare time she bore daughter Sarah, continued graduate work in choral technique at Hartt College of Music, and toured with the Worcester Chorus, a prominent choral group dedicated to the performance of sacred choral works. In 1971 Bob accepted a job as an electrical engineer at the Dahlgren Navy base. Jeannie, husband Bob, and baby Sarah moved to King George.

In 1972, following the retirement of Karl Bergey, Jeannie became the organist and choirmaster at St. Paul’s. At the time there were no community-wide programs for performing sacred music in the KG area. In 1975 Jeannie founded St. Paul’s Masterworks Chorus for adult singers. The chorus recruited singers and other musicians from the King George area. The Masterworks Chorus performed two concerts most years and grew as the years went by.

Children’s Choruses - In 1996, to provide musical opportunities for children, Jeannie formed a children’s chorus. It was conceived as an outreach program to nearby churches with children who would benefit from singing in a larger chorus. The first singers were mostly children of the adult Masterworks singers. The youth chorus grew rapidly and split into Junior and Youth choruses. A few very special parents guided the children and helped the chorus excel.

Members of the present Junior and Youth Choruses come from more than twenty local churches of various denominations. Together, these choruses form an educational family setting where members of the adult chorus and members of the youth chorus mentor the younger singers and serve as role models. Financially the program is largely self-supporting through contributions from singers and audiences.

Involvement in St. Paul’s children’s choruses has provided lasting benefits for all who participated. Parents have had the joy of watching as their children’s talents bloomed. All who have attended have heard beautiful music, ably performed. Young musicians have given their musical skills a workout and learned to work together with others. On graduating from the Youth Masterworks music program, an impressive number of our youthful musicians have continued their musical development as adults and are currently contributing to the musical culture of our society. The table which follows provides a minimum listing of our young adults whose interest in music has been kindled–there may be many more.

Julie LaCoursiere	Robyn Frazer Bauer	Andy Knowlton
Karen Taczak O’Bryan	Emily Franklin	Amanda Cullin
Sarah Richardson Fahrendorf	Tammy Hannick McCullum	Marlaina Getz
Caroline Snead	Devon Roberts	Rebecca Campbell
Cathy Burnley Hansen	Stephanie Weberg	Carrie Cullin
Julie Blount Salmon	Colin Roberts	Katherine Cumbee
Scott Colston	Joshua Brown	Emily Jones
Rose Burnley Gallitz	Stephen Carter	Tyson Janney
Ryan Frazer Georgis	Mary Elizabeth Ashton	Rebecca Wright
Katie O’Brian	Carly Kennedy	Melissa Getz
David Richardson	Lindsay Hannick	Amy Loudin
James Pitts	Eric Hannick	Dan Knowlton
Mary Richardson Short	Jessica Wright	James Kennedy
Sarah Hock Allen	Stephanie Roberts	Charlotte Taft
Monica Page	Jessica Ryskamp
David Richardson	Stephen Cumbee

Personal Observations “To sing like this, in the company of other souls, and to make those consonants slip out so easily and in unison, and to make those chords so rich that they bring tears to your eyes. This is the power that choral singing has that other music can only dream of.” - Garrison Keillor

What a pleasure it has been directing Masterworks Concerts with all of you! Back in 1996, Bob & I had two children getting their college degrees, and just one child still at home. I had time on my hands! I decided to begin a Children’s Masterworks Chorus. In our rural area, our little churches all had children who would benefit from singing in a larger chorus. Members of the Adult SPMC also had talented children…and so the Youth Masterworks Chorus became a reality! With less than a dozen singers at its beginnings, this group grew by leaps and bounds and performed lovely concerts each year. Several former singers are now young adults with children of their own! Several are now singing with the Adult Masterworks Chorus.

I have enjoyed every minute I have spent working with our children here in King George. When I pass the baton to Kara Pekar this fall, I feel confident that our children will be in good hands. Kara loves children and her love for music is so evident. I feel assured that our Children’s Masterworks Choruses will flourish under her direction!

One last word…The Masterworks Choruses have been volunteer on my part. I find that volunteer work is usually the most satisfying of all the things we do. When you can do something you love it is always a joy for you and for others. Go out and volunteer where you are needed! “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

“When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among others, To make music in the heart.” Dr. Howard Thurman.

 Give Thanks to the Lord - Psalm 100 gives us a prayer of thanks. It gives us a guide line of worship; a reminder of His greatness; and ways to express our gratitude for such. “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

To hear the voices of our youth as they come before him with joyful songs is but one way to Know that the Lord is God. That it is He who made us, and that we are His sheep. In these moments of wonder, we worship the Lord with gladness and thanksgiving. It is contagious; this worshiping through song, and it touches not only our hearts, but our very souls. To get there, however, someone must answer a call from the Great Shepherd, to lead his sheep, to gather them, to guide them, to teach them the way, the truth and the life; and to do it with a humble and joyful radiance which enables endurance, until His return.

 

We can always be assured that He will amply equip those that he calls. It is evident He has done that here. Jeannie’s willingness to answer the call shows us first and foremost of her great faith, and while you will not hear her boast of her extraordinary talents, you will most definitely hear them and see them when you listen and watch the lives she has touched and the music that pours forth in praise. She, and we were blessed with the accomplished accompanist in Anne Knowlton, and the two have lead the way through His Gates, leading the sheep, those singing, and those listening. Well done, His good and faithful servants! His faithfulness does indeed continue through all generations on every level, and here too, we look forward to the continued works of the Junior and Youth Masterworks Choruses, as His faithful servants hand over the shepherd’s staff to yet another faithful servant. We can trust in the Lord, that she shall be equipped, as well, with all that is needed to continue Making a Joyful Noise!

- Jeannine Richardson and Noma Loveland