The YCM Framework
From beginning music education courses for children ages 4 and 5 to our performing choral groups, we’ve got something for every stage of your child’s musical journey.
Our students are divided into ensembles that study and perform vocal repertoire selected to best reflect each singer’s age and experience and to best expose the students to a wide range of musical styles and cultural traditions. We currently have ensembles for three age groups: preschool children, young elementary students, and older elementary students. These ensembles are further divided into small groups based on session preference. In this way, each YCM student experiences three different levels of belonging.
Program schedule 2019/2020
Mondays
| Section | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| YCM at MILE | 16:05 | 17:20 |
| Chromatics | 18:30 | 19:45 |
Tuesdays
| Section | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| FUNdamentals | 17:00 | 17:45 |
| Harmonics | 18:00 | 19:15 |
Wednesdays
| Section | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Harmonics | 17:00 | 18:15 |
| FUNdamentals | 18:30 | 19:15 |
Thursdays
| Section | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|
| Overtones | 17:00 | 18:15 |
| FUNdamentals | 18:30 | 19:15 |
Weekly Team
Thanks to its small size, the weekly team allows choristers to quickly forge bonds of true friendship.
Ensemble
The various sections of weekly teams that make up a single ensemble each study the same repertoire. At our monthly general rehearsals, these teams then come together to learn and share and sing.
YCM Family
At these important rehearsals, the weekly team members will not only meet the other teams from their ensemble, they will also meet all of the other choristers in the entire YCM family! Great attention is given to team building at these monthly events because our directors believe that a chorus of friends will always make the most beautiful music.
FUNdamentals is our chorus for pre-elementary school children who have reached four or five years of age as of the start of the academic year. Our weekly 45 minute lesson is structured as an engaging, non-stop, music-in-motion routine designed to introduce these young singers to the fundamentals of music making.
Harmonics is our ensemble for students enrolled in the first, second, and third grades for the current academic year. In their weekly class of 1 hour and 15 minutes, we focus on a repertoire selected to solidify our singing skills. We also begin to move from basic recognition of music notation to simple sight-reading activities.
Overtones is our ensemble for boys and girls enrolled in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. We put our newly acquired singing skills to good use in our weekly meeting of 1 hour and 15 minutes in which we enjoy polishing and perfecting the wide range of repertoire selected for concerts planned in the current and future seasons.
Chromatics
Chromatics is our premier ensemble for secondary school students. From multi-movement masterworks to challenging a cappella arrangements of popular songs, the selection of music for this group reflects their continued mastery of the vocal arts. Building on the YCM foundational principles of healthy vocal production and music literacy, choristers have the opportunity to gain a deep understanding of the history of music as they sample the many treasures in the choral canon. They also serve on the front lines of contemporary music making by sponsoring and championing the work of living composers.
