Corpus Christi Choir Hits the High C's

By James Kennedy

Confidence, Cooperation and Carrera; for the choir of Corpus Christi School, hitting high "C"s has an even deeper meaning then just its musical interpretation.

The Corpus Christi Choir.

The choir has been putting on many performances as of late including one at the Mineola Village Hall tree lighting and one at the Corpus Christi Church tree lighting.

In the future the director of the choir Cecilia Carerra would like to see her Mineola choir be given the opportunity to perform at different competitions, village functions, and perhaps even television to give them experience.

Through these concerts Carerra hopes the children will learn to work together and most of all share their gifts. "Music enhances all activities," she commented.

The Corpus Christi Choir has been lending their voices to enhance many activities and in so doing enhancing themselves through what they learned as well.

School Days

Carerra has taught music at Corpus Christi School in Mineola for the past four years. Along with directing the choir, she teaches general music to her students including units on jazz, show music and even rock and roll.

She insists her students, many of whom have taken up instruments with the encouragement of their teacher, learn theory and to read music.

Carerra encourages her students to learn instruments using donated keyboards to teach them the basics and introducing them to a variety of instruments that she allows them to and to play.

Carerra herself is a classically trained musician who studied at Hartt College of Music at the University of Hartford. As well as singing freelance, she is a professional musician and for the past 12 years she has been the House Soloist for the Long Island Choral Society.

She uses these experiences when she teaches. She said the young singers are most impressed when they see footage of her performances and they realize what their teacher can do.

She meets with the choir members of the choir like Christine Armstrong, Kirstine Jackson, Amy Jazembowski, MaryKate Buehler, Tania Clerisme, Sandra Felix, Christina Fernandes, Peter Ferreira, Gabriel Neves, Vanessa Nunes and Monica Ruella once a week for a half hour during school and once a month the choir meets for a 90 minute rehearsal.

We Are Family

As well as having many siblings within its membership, the children of the Corpus Christi Choir have become a family of their own according to both the teacher and the students.

Shuana Snow said the singing brings the choir members together as a family. Stephanie Brown said that within this family environment the singers support one another.

Christine Vann commented that all the grades come together.

Jenny Rose McGrath explained that the choir experience teaches the members to cooperate and deal with the different personalities that make up the choir.

Vanessa Dormesy said it is a privilege to work with her fellow choir members.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Carrera has introduced the children to a wide range of music from religious and classical to popular and light rock in an attempt to expose them to all elements of music. She has also taught the children to sing in other languages such as Latin, German, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Student Danica Liriano describes Carrera's teaching as a great job, and the other students agree that they come away from the choir experience having learned many different lessons.

Emily Salcedo credits the teacher with building those bonds that bind the choir together.

Jackie Raspen said Carrera is a great teacher who promotes musical instruments. Carolina Flores said her teacher builds within her experience.

Peggy Feldon said she exposes the students to different schools of music, as well as different aspects of music according to Daniela Oliviera. Stephanie Carrera explains that the music is just plain good.

Vanessa Martins said that simply all the singing that the choir does together makes for fun.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

The students spoke of the confidence that was a result of their participation in the choir. The choir has given them the most important type of respect, respect for themselves.

The benefit of confidence comes from performing in front of crowds, and it comes from the discipline working as a team according to the teacher.

Nelson Santos credits the choir with helping him overcome his shyness and his stage fright which allowed the student who arrived in September to meet more people.

Monique Wells credits the choir with turning her into a whole other person.

Jacqueline Aguilar explained that the choir teaches the children to work together and instills in them a sense of pride.

According to Marjorie Dorime the choir has taught her how to perform and it has taught her discipline. Dina Ricardi explained that the choir has taught her to sing in different languages.

Where the Boys Are?

"It is prestigious to be in the choir," said Carrera and that is why it attracts this school minded, enthusiastic and bright young group of 53 children between the ages of 10 and 14.

However, there is another characteristic of the composition of the choir as well. There is a vast difference between the number of female members as opposed to male members.

The students offered a few insights as to the reason for the lack of male voices in the choir.

Natasha deSousa explains that the presence of boys in the choir is so small because the boys feel the activity is "nerdy." However, Stephanie Dormesy suggests that the boys who are interested should not be deterred by nay sayers and should go for their goals.

Marie Quigg agreed that the boys should not be scared, besides the choir could use more altos.

Gisela Cruz opined that boys are afraid of the choir and that is why they dropped out opined Annette Vetrano.

Laura Walker explained what deters both the boys and even girls from joining the choir is the major commitment that must be made when joining choir.

Josine Vetrano speaks through actions as she joined the choir to prove to friends that it was an excellent experience.

Nelson Santos, one of the few boys on the choir, suggested that boys of this age group whose voices are changing might be deterred from joining the choir.

Simply Irresistible

The teacher said she balances instruction with praise in her teaching methods. She said she does not conduct herself so authoritatively and keeps in touch with what the children like.

She also gives the children a say in some of the major decisions, They vote on issues such as what to wear and which musical selections they like to learn.

These factor could account for Carrera's tremendous popularity with the choir. The students offered glowing praise of their teacher and several different reasons for their strong positive opinions.

Christina Oliviera describes her teacher as "kind, loving and caring." Sarah Valente said her teacher is encouraging.

Caroline Burmester and Kristie Bailey praised the teacher's devotion and commitment to the choir.

Nicole Rincon said she always has time to help. Amanda Oliviera and Marlene Leal said she is kind in her use of that time to aide the children as they learn.

Denise Edwards, Jackie Valente, Jennifer Afonso and Tonina Russo, Patty Delia said she is nice.

Jackie Aguilar said her teacher is loving in her administration of the tough work it takes to become a good choir. Judy Salnave added that she was not strict and Marcia Duenas commented that she is also a lot of fun.

Catrina Vetrano described her as the best music teacher she has ever had.

Laura Walker spoke of commitment when she explained what deters both the boy and girl students from joining the choir.

The Show Must Go On

Positioning herself behind the piano, Carrera quiets her chorus by gently playing a simple series of notes. It is a special bond that the teacher has forged with her students.

It is a bond forged through the universal language of music, and it is a bond that the students work so hard to share with the many they encounter performing as the Corpus Christi Choir.