Choir Camp Day 3

Day 3 is coming to a close. Choristers started the day with some energetic gospel music singing the theme to “The Jeffersons” which woke them up pretty fast! Who doesn’t love the energy of gospel music? Ending this morning’s rehearsal was some choreography to “Jump” from Glee. Energy must have been the theme to this morning’s rehearsal to get campers ready for an afternoon full of off campus performances.

After eating lunch, we headed to give a special cameo performance at the Erie Art Museum’s Mid Day Art Break. This performance set the tone for great performances to come. The audience really responded to the various TV theme songs and was eager to vote for us when they heard we were in the running for a $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Grant!

Next was a performance at Sarah Reed Retirement Center where we gave a performance for their residents. Following Sarah Reed was the Erie Zoo where we met many parents, Zoo patrons and a news crew. The concert went great and included a crowd-pleasing performance of the theme from “Sponge Bob Square Pants.” After the performance ended, campers got to explore the zoo with their chaperones. The weather was ideal and campers loved being able to see all the animals.

Tomorrow, campers will wake up early to give a live performance on WICU’s Morning Show at 6am. Be sure to tune in to the program to see the campers sing on live TV!

Choir Camp Day 2

Day 2 of choir camp was so much fun. Campers were busy making new friends, learning new vocal technique, and memorizing tons of music and lyrics. Learning TV theme songs seems like an easy task, but when put into a one-week setting with over a dozen songs, it’s quite difficult and these choristers are accepting the challenge like true professionals!

As most of you know by now, YPC Erie is in the middle of an intense Pepsi Refresh Project campaign where we are competing for $25,000 to send us to the World Choir Games. Our choristers know what it would mean for us if we won this grant, so they are actively helping us get votes! We are taking 30 minutes per day and asking our older choristers with cell phones and facebook to vote for us and help bring in the votes from their friends. We are currently in 10^th place, and this is much due to the hard work of our choristers.

We ended our evening tonight with a brilliant performance at the Millcreek Mall. Over 100 people watched and listened to the performance by our campers. The campers have had this music for less than 36 hours and received a roaring applause that could be heard all across the mall.

Tomorrow, our campers are giving a cameo performance at the Erie Art Museum’s Mid Day Art Break at 1pm, followed by performances at Sarah Reed Retirement Center and the Erie Zoo. We hope to see you tomorrow, but if not, we hope you are able to come to our family carnival on Saturday from 10:30-noon outside of the Reed Union Building on the Penn State campus and then for our final camp performance (with lots of surprises) at 12 noon!

YPC Erie Parent Blogs about Pepsi Refresh

The Pepsi Refresh challenge is a great way for Young People’s Chorus of Erie to earn money to help offset the costs of their trip to Cincinnati for the World Choir Games! By voting every day, every way, choristers, parents, siblings, friends, etc. can ensure that we’re one of the top 15 organizations at the end of the month! It’s simple and doesn’t cost a thing. The POWER VOTE codes, found on Pepsi products, are also a key to success. These codes provide from 5 to 100 extra votes!

As a YPC parent, I am doing my best to maximize my “voting power” and continue to remind my family, friends and colleagues to do the same. Many of the choristers rely on scholarships to assist with the costs of being a YPC member and may not have the means to fully pay for a weeklong trip. The Pepsi Refresh grant would ensure that the trip is affordable for everyone.

These young people have an amazing talent and the quality of their performances exceeds that of many college choirs! To showcase this ability to the world choir community is something they truly deserve and appreciate.

-Deb Turk