Three TrebleMakers sing in Ohio

The three fifth-graders – Maggie Hughes, Abby Hyer and Claire Margetts – were selected to sing in the honor choir of the annual conference of the Midwest Kodaly Educators of America. They were chosen for the 89-member group based on their application and recommendation by the TrebleMakers’ teacher, Chadron State College professor Dr. Una Taylor. The honor choir featured a limited number of children in fifth through eighth grades.

The girls learned a diverse set of music chosen for the concert, which included Kenyan freedom songs, Portugese music and a Baroque number. They began practicing the eight songs in August and rehearsed with the entire group for 10 hours upon arriving in Ohio. The Chadron singers traveled the farthest of any of the honor choir’s members for the conference Oct. 21-23.

The three girls have been members of TrebleMakers since the program’s inception at CSC their first-grade year. Taylor uses the Kodaly Method, based on the philosophies of Hungarian composer Zoltan Kodaly, to teach the TrebleMakers. The technique employs folk songs, hand signals, pictures, movable-do, rhythm and syllables, to foster children’s musical progression.