Page 134 - CJJan24

2024 ACDA Eastern Region Conference February 28 - March 2, 2024 Providence, Rhode Island

Headliners/Special Events
H eadliners/S pecial E v en ts

Coro Allegro Rhode Island Children’s Chorus

The Rhode Island Chil-
dren’s Chorus (RICC)
was co-founded in 2003
by Christine Noel and
Joyce Wolfe. Currently
serving over 200 stu-
dents across seven cho-
ral ensembles, RICC is
led by a devoted staff,
many of whom were
Coro Allegro is Boston’s award-winning LGBTQ+ once members of the
and allied classical chorus. Under the leadership of chorus themselves. Our
Artistic Director David Hodgkins, Coro Allegro builds rehearsals focus equally
bridges between disparate communities and offers a on the advancement of
diverse three-concert series plus numerous collabora- musical and vocal skills and an emphasis on self-esteem
tions in Greater Boston. Coro Allegro reaches national and leadership development. We value and celebrate
and international audiences through digital program- diversity, and we appreciate learning from others who
ming, radio broadcasts, festival performances, and four come from different backgrounds. The Rhode Island
commercial recordings, including a new release of We Children’s Chorus has collaborated with the Rhode Is-
Are Here in January 2024. In 2008, Coro Allegro estab- land Philharmonic and other professional ensembles.
lished the Daniel Pinkham Award in recognition of RICC performed at the 2009 convention of NAfME,
outstanding contributions to classical music and to the three ACDA conferences, and at Carnegie Hall.
LGBTQ+ community.
Christine Noel co-founded the RI Chil-
David Hodgkins is artistic director of Coro dren’s Chorus in August 2003 with Joyce
Allegro in Boston and The New England Wolfe. She conducted RICC at ACDA
Classical Singers in Andover, director of conferences in Philadelphia, Baltimore,
music at The Commonwealth School in and Providence. She is also the artistic di-
Boston, and advanced conducting instruc- rector of the Providence Singers, which she conducts
tor at the Kodály Music Institute. Hodgkins has served each year in Handel’s Messiah with the RI Philharmonic.
as guest conductor and collaborator with many ensem- Noel is an active guest conductor, clinician, and adjudi-
bles and made numerous festival appearances as guest cator. She has served on the music faculty and as director
conductor and clinician. With Coro Allegro, Hodgkins of choral activities at Clark University. She received an
has performed at Chorus America, ACDA, and GALA MM and DMA in conducting from Boston University.
music festivals, received the 2012 Chorus America Fluent in Italian, she completed Italian studies at the
Alice Parker/ASCAP Award and the 2019 ASCAP University of Florence. She is also a graduate of Rhode
Adventurous Programming Award, and released four Island College and the Kodály Institute of Music in Ke-
critically acclaimed CDs. Their January 2024 Coro Al- cskemét, Hungary.
legro release, We Are Here, features “Rage Against the
tyrant(s)” by Kareem Roustom and “Aluta Continua”
by Eric Banks, on the Navona label.

132 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2024 Volume 64 Number 5