Welcome to the Wilmington Children’s Chorus
The Wilmington Children’s Chorus (WCC) is dedicated to ensuring all children, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to high-quality musical education. The only tuition-free community children’s chorus in the nation, our mission is to empower young people to change their world through music. WCC gives our youth the opportunity and tools to excel while infusing Wilmington’s neighborhoods with music.
The WCC faculty are respected professionals with a wealth of experience in music education, voice pedagogy, and performance. WCC interns assist the staff by providing mentoring to younger choristers while gaining valuable leadership and education experience.
About WCC
- WCC was founded in 2002 and has reached thousands of children across Delaware and the surrounding states.
- WCC is comprised of over 500 young singers, ranging in age from 1 to 18.
- The WCC curriculum emphasizes music literacy and beautiful singing as well as building life skills including commitment, teamwork and, leadership.
- WCC has collaborated with major performing arts organizations and artists, including the Delaware Symphony Orchestra, OperaDelaware, First State Ballet Theatre, Delaware ChoralArts, Newark Symphony Orchestra, Cartoon Christmas Trio, the Philadelphia Arab Music Ensemble with Marcel Khalife and Rima Khcheich, Hyde Park Neighborhood Chorus of the the Chicago Children’s Choir, American composer Robert Powell, renowned Arabic music artist Simon Shaheen, and the Youth Chamber Orchestra of Fulda, Germany.
- WCC appearances have included Holst’s The Planets, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Verdi’s Falstaff.
- WCC has performed at Barack Obama’s campaign rally in Rodney Square, the reopening of the Wilmington Train Station with Vice President Joe Biden, The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, Fox 29 Philadelphia, Longwood Gardens, the 400th Anniversary of the Founding of the Colony of Jamestown, Williamsburg, VA, the 375th Anniversary of New Sweden with the King and Queen of Sweden, and benefits for community causes such as DFRC, Habitat for Humanity, Pacem in Terris, and the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition.
- WCC engages in international exchanges with young musicians from Wilmington’s Sister Cities across the world.
- The choir began as a project of Cityfest, Inc., the non-profit arm of the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, under then-Mayor James Baker, and is now an independent, 501(c)(3) organization.
