In 1956 during the Civil Rights Movement, Rev. Christopher Moore founded what was then called the Children's Chorus of the First Unitarian Church of Chicago in Hyde Park. Today, the Hyde Park Neighborhood Choir Program of Uniting Voices serves youth from Hyde Park and the surrounding neighborhoods.
Our Neighborhood Choir Program is a window onto the world and an incubator for global leadership. With our world-class instruction and empathetic approach to music education, these community-based programs bring to life an emphasis on emotional, intellectual, and social development anchored in musical excellence and creative expression.
In the Hyde Park Neighborhood Choir Program, music education means more than theory, notation, and sight-singing. Through exposure to music that authentically incorporates diverse languages and styles, singers engage in dialogue about the historical and social context of an array of cultures. The impact of this exposure is compounded by the opportunity for students to connect with young people across the city—and globe—breaking down barriers of race, religion, and socioeconomics, forging life-long friendships along the way.
The Hyde Park Neighborhood Choir Program has been invited to sing for community functions in Hyde Park and beyond, such as the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and the Hyde Park Symphony Orchestra. Hyde Park singers have also collaborated with renowned ensembles like Tenebrae and the Artemisia Trio. Select singers have recently performed in Turandot and La bohème at Lyric Opera of Chicago and Bernstein’s MASS at Ravinia Festival. Members of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Choir Program have toured throughout the United States, most recently to Washington D.C., Ohio, Puerto Rico, New England, Michigan, and New Mexico.
