"I am

a big fan of his music for treble chorus and have performed many of his

pieces with my choirs over the years. When Dr. Stroope called with the

invitation last summer, we jumped at the opportunity," said Millie

Turek, the director and founder of the Fayette Youth Chorale.

The members

of the FYC joined with members of the Nebraska Children's Choir and other

middle school singers from Alabama and Florida to comprise the National

Middle School Honor Choir. The performance at Lincoln Center was a thrill

for the local singers when they learned they were on the same stage as

the New York Philharmonic and many famous musicians throughout history.

When not in

rehearsal, the FYC members toured New York City seeing the Statue of Liberty,

the Empire State Building, NBC Studios, Times Square, and Madame Tousseau's

Wax Museum. On their first night in New York, they attended the Tony award

winning Broadway show, "Thoroughly Modern Millie." Turek was

surprised to see an old high school friend in the cast and took some FYC

singers back stage to meet him.

Although the

trip was during spring break in April, FYC members were still able to

ice skate at Rockefeller Plaza. On the final day of the trip, New York

was hit with a six inch snow storm which almost extended their stay.

For the FYC,

the performance in New York was a highlight of a terrific year which also

included performances at the Sandy Creek High School's First Madrigal

Dinner, the Georgia Youth Ballet's Nutcracker, and local holiday and spring

concerts. Over the last five years the group has performed locally as

well as in New Orleans at the Crescent City Children's Choir Festival,

the Georgia Music Educators Association State In-Service Convention in

Savannah, and in North Carolina at the Choral Music Experience Teacher

Training Institute.

The group of

38 auditioned singers, boys and girls with unchanged treble voices, comes

from Fayette and Coweta Counties and meets weekly at Sandy Creek High

School on Mondays from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m. Karen Moseley, choral director

at Arnall Middle School in Coweta County, serves as the choir coordinator.

To become a

member of the Fayette Youth Chorale for the 2003-2004 season, interested

young singers should call 770-474-1948 to schedule an audition appointment.

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