SVCC History

Now celebrating its 32nd year, Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir includes more than 175 children of diverse backgrounds ages 5-18 in four auditioned choirs and two music classes with a staff of eleven under the artistic and executive direction of Dr. Janet M. Hostetter. 

Regular Monday evening rehearsals include instruction in solfege-based sight singing, ear training, and music theory; vocal technique; and performance practice. Prelude Choir (ages 7-10) and Intermezzo Choirs (ages 9-11) meet jointly under the direction of Dr. Hostetter with assistants Joy Anderson and Heidi King before rehearsing as two individual choirs - Prelude Choir directed by Anderson and Intermezzo Choir directed by Heidi King. Altogether, Prelude and Intermezzo choristers rehearse weekly for 90 minutes during SVCC's calendar year. 

The advanced Concert Choir meets for 120 minutes each week under the direction of Hostetter, Anderson, and King. Concert Choir rehearses in two distinct groups – Mixed Voices (SATB) led by Anderson and Treble Voices (SSA) led by Hostetter – before rehearsing all singers together. Qualified music instructors provide graded musicianship training for choristers of all skill levels.  SVCC's head choristers support less experienced members with individualized guidance and encouragement.

SVCC's Music Explorers classes for children ages 5-7 are taught by Karen Reichard and Jessica Strawderman with instruction based on the Kodály approach to music education. This 20-week non-performing program develops music reading and listening skills and teaches music fundamentals through singing, movement, games, improvisation, instruments and story books.

Committed to community outreach, SVCC participates in relief concerts, organizes choral workshops in local school systems, sings in churches and retirement facilities, and offers five-week non-auditioned spring choir experiences for children who love to sing.

The beauty and reputation of SVCC have afforded Concert Choir the honor of performing for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, then-President Bill and Hillary Clinton, and former President Jimmy Carter. Performing choirs frequently collaborate with professional musicians and have presented at conferences of the American Choral Directors Association ('00, '02, '06, '12, ‘18, ‘22), Virginia Music Educators Association ('96, '98, '04, '08), and Organization of American Kodály Educators ('01, '09), and have performed with the American Boychoir (’94, ’01, ’03, ’07, ’10, ’17). 

Enriching the regular season are collaborative trips. This past summer, sixty-four members of Concert Choir participated in a tour to the University of Maryland for Voices United: An International Youth Choral Symposium, followed by a choral festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City, where SVCC performed alone and in collaboration with three other renowned children’s choirs for the premiere of Jude B. Roldan’s Missa Virtutum (Mass of Virtues) under the direction of Janet M. Hostetter.  In past trips, Concert Choir members have collaborated with elite children’s choirs at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland; in the Sing-A-Mile-High Children’s Choral Festival in Denver, Colorado; in Cusco, Peru; in the Crescent City Choral Festival in New Orleans; in the Pacific Rim Children's Choral Festival in Hawaii, and in the Tuscany Children's Choir Festival in Florence, Italy.  

Under the leadership of Dr. Hostetter, SVCC choristers have participated in music video projects including a summer 2023 YouTube release of Carly Simon’s “Let the River Run” featuring choristers along the Hudson River in New York City. Other music videos include a "signature" video of choir members singing "Shenandoah" in the Shenandoah National Park; a collaborative video with the Cusco-based children's choir Los K'ana Wawakuna in Peru; a video featuring Hostetter's arrangement of "America the Beautiful" on windy Pikes Peak; and a video filmed locally featuring newly commissioned song “Shapes of Home” commemorating SVCC’s 30th anniversary. When the pandemic of 2020 forced choral singing online, four virtual choir videos were released on YouTube, adding further to the breadth and depth of musical experiences families and audiences enjoy from Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir.

Artistic and executive director Dr. Janet M. Hostetter has led the organization since 2014, and assistant director Joy Anderson has worked with the choir since 2002. Dr. Jo-Anne van der Vat-Chromy served as interim director from 2012-2014. The Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir was founded in 1991 at Eastern Mennonite University by Julia J. White.