Congratulations everybody and Happy 15th Anniversary, NOCCC!
When the North Orange County Children’s Choir began in April 1989, twenty-five young boys and girls attended the first rehearsal in the conductor’s humble living room. Fifteen years later, NOCCC has become a well established and renowned community youth choral singing group in the Southern California area. Over these years, there have been some three hundred forty members (with more than nine hundred fifty enrollees), and one third of them have been with the choir for more than three years.
Right from its founding, we came to the decision to allow the operation of NOCCC to be shared among the parents themselves and to solely establish it as a non-profit, public benefit, community service organization. Our primary missions were to provide learning and performance opportunities for, and to promote artistic appreciation of, choral singing among children. We are very proud to announce that we are successfully accomplishing these aims with leaps and bounds.
From the initial one class, unison voice form, the choir has grown into today’s three multivoice groups and a hand chime team. The children are very much better trained vocally, their musical interpretation and sight singing capabilities have significantly improved, and their choral performance has become much more experienced. Most importantly, they have also acquired a sense of responsibility, discipline, self-confidence and team spirit. Boys and girls, we hope that each one of you will really treasure the good friendships you have made with your fellow choir members and remember the lovely times you have so very much enjoyed in NOCCC.
We have truly been blessed to have such incredible music teachers in the choir, all of whom have devoted nothing less than a tremendous amount of their time and energy in training our children. For your overall love of teaching, your care for the children, and your commitment to NOCCC and its educational aims, we all thank and salute each one of you, dear Mrs. Yang, Ms. Wu, Mrs. Yeh, and the many prior esteemed teachers who helped to make the choir what it is really is today.
We would also like to express our enormous gratitude to the parents and sponsors of NOCCC. To the parents, we really thank you for encouraging your children to sing and for patiently and persistently bringing them to rehearsal every week. Amongst your already busy schedules, many of you have volunteered to serve on our Board each year or to perform other much needed administrative and practical duties throughout the singing season. Without your mutual support, NOCCC would not have existed like it has. To our sponsors, your generosity has made possible our youngsters’ participation in so many concerts, either hosted by NOCCC or invited by others, as well as numerous other musical events and educational activities. We deeply appreciate your contributions.
For NOCCC’s past members, we have recently formed an alumni network which provides a means for members to keep in touch with one another as they continue their schooling or join the workforce. We really want all alumni to feel proud to have been a part of NOCCC and to continue to be a member of the extended NOCCC family.
We sincerely welcome more youngsters to come join us. Let’s wish NOCCC continual success, and we will all come back again in five years to celebrate our twentieth anniversary.
