The singers are young and old, of different creeds and colors and musical approaches, from suburban parishes and inner-city churches and college campuses.

Hundreds of singers in nearly 40 regional choirs and choruses will join two top local theater companies to lend their spirit and joy to holiday shows - perhaps an unprecedented array of community choral groups participating in such productions at the same time.

Starting tonight, the Huntington Theatre Company’s “A Civil War Christmas: An American Musical Celebration’’ uses spirituals, Civil War ballads, and carols in a tale evoking the spectrum of American life on Christmas Eve in 1864. Each night before the curtain, the audience will warm up to a set of Christmas music by one of dozens of local singing groups invited to participate for a night.

“We really wanted to wrap our arms around the city with this show,’’ says Huntington artistic director Peter DuBois.

Meanwhile in Cambridge, the American Repertory Theater’s “Best of Both Worlds,’’ which starts Nov. 21, transports the plot of Shakespeare’s“The Winter’s Tale’’ to the imaginary land of Funktopia, discarding the Bard’s language in favor of rhythm & blues and gospel and concluding with the rousing number “Glorious,’’ performed each night by the cast with the help of local gospel singers and groups.

“It’s a really great way for the community to be part of our celebration,’’ says “Best of Both Worlds’’ composer Diedre Murray. “Local people having the joy of making music together . . . that’s part of what being a musician is about.’’

The Huntington’s “Civil War’’ calendar lists more than 30 groups, from the Archdiocese of Boston Black Catholic Choir to Stambandet, a Scandinavian ensemble, and the Acton-Boxborough Regional High School’s Madrigal Singers, each appearing once. “The choirs really reflect the diversity of the city,’’ DuBois says.

For “Best of Both Worlds,’’ local groups including the Kingdom Sanctuary Choir from Mt. Olive Kingdom Builders Worship Center in Dorchester, the Kuumba Singers of Harvard College, the Tufts University Third Day Gospel Choir, and a north-suburbs group called the Choral Majority have been booked for about a week each, along with an ART chorus assembled by the show’s associate music director, David Coleman, a longtime figure on the local gospel scene. The groups join a cast of musical-theater and opera standouts including Gregg Baker (“Porgy and Bess’’ at New York’s Metropolitan Opera), Mary Bond Davis (Broadway’s “Hairspray’’) and Jeannette Bayardelle (Broadway’s “The Color Purple’’), who also originated her role as Serena in the 2004 New York production of “Best of Both Worlds.’’

“It’s about outreach,’’ says Coleman of the ART’s involvement with local groups. “It’s about [the theater] expanding its arms and its reach into the community and being more welcoming.’’

Choirs performed before a handful of “Civil War’’ performances during its world premiere production at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven last winter. But it’s a first for “Best of Both Worlds,’’ says ART artistic director Diane Paulus.

“So much of my interest at the ART is to make the theater a center for the commu nity, to make the theater feel like it belongs to the audience as much as to the artists, to make it a vibrant center of community, social life, intellectual debate,’’ Paulus says. “Everything I’ve programmed is a way to reach out. That’s been a big metaphor for me, that the ART is no longer just an institution within the four walls of the Loeb Drama Center. . . . Rather than saying, ‘Come to our theater, come see the show,’ [here] it was actually ‘Come be in the show,’ and if you’re in the show all of a sudden the show is yours.’’

“A Civil War Christmas’’ examines America in a time of slavery, civil war, and emancipation through interwoven story lines touching everyone from the Lincolns in the White House to a slave and her daughter trying to cross the Potomac to freedom. Cast members led by acclaimed local actors Ken Cheeseman, Karen MacDonald, and Jacqui Parker enrich the narrative by performing carols, folk songs, and other American music arranged by Daryl Waters. Jessica Thebus directs.

Pulitzer-winning playwright Paula Vogel (“How I Learned to Drive’’) says she wrote “Civil War’’ to reach even the youngest members of her multicultural, multiracial, multi-religious family, some of whom live in the Boston area. Bringing in the choruses was a natural extension.

“This is the hotbed - we’re walking the streets where abolitionists walked, we’re walking the streets where the Massachusetts 54th walked. It’s pretty exciting to do it here. So can we make it by, of, and for

the community?’’ Vogel says. “That meant reaching out . . . getting local choruses, school groups, choirs to sing for half an hour before the play begins.’’

In “Best of Both Worlds,’’ Shakespeare’s Hermione, Queen of Sicilia, becomes Serena, Queen of Funktopia, whose husband wrongly suspects her of bearing another man’s child. Banishment, heartbreak, and abandonment follow, and she is ultimately thought to die. The revelation that she is alive leads to forgiveness and a joyous finale as the choirs come onstage.

The show itself comes to life with the gospel and soul stylings of the 1950s and ’60s, says Murray, who wrote the score. The book and lyrics are by Randy Weiner, and the Tony-winning Paulus co-wrote and directs the show. Musically, that big finale touches on many different styles.

“Basically anything you want to do inside of gospel stylistically is OK, as long as you’re telling the truth and preaching the gospel,’’ Murray says. “So there’s elements of jazz, there’s marches, there’s reggaeton, there’s Latin and a straight-up fanfare that you might hear in a church.’’

With both shows, the choruses get a chance to share their voices - and their message - with new audiences. “We use music as a catalyst to create social change and break down barriers,’’ says Anthony Trecek-King, artistic director of the Boston Children’s Chorus, which will send about 25 youths to sing at the Huntington.

It’s also a chance to expose the theaters to new audiences. “The community choirs and especially the churches have never been to the ART and have never seen . . . a professional theater piece,’’ Coleman says.

Still, it’s the sharing that most participants look forward to. “The second part of our title is community, and that’s something we take quite literally,’’ says Richard Travers, music director of the Newton Community Chorus, which will sing Civil War-era pieces at the Huntington. “As Robert Shaw says . . . music is a consistent beacon of hope for the world. And I think that’s what we get out of it, to get a chance to take all different kinds of people from all different backgrounds and races and creeds and religions, and we all agree on the same thing. It’s pretty powerful.’’

Olivia Spalletta Captures a Chorus and a Connecting Culture

The Boston Globe

Connecting Cultures
November 3, 2009
By Don Aucoin, Globe Staff

During a visit to Boston two years ago, King Abdullah of Jordan heard the Boston Children’s Chorus perform at the Harvard Club and was bowled over.

The king told chorus executive director David Howse to let him know if there was anything he could do for the chorus in the future. Howse had an idea: Why not bring the chorus to Jordan? After all, part of the mission statement for the multiracial ensemble, founded six years ago by Hubie Jones, is that the singers “proudly represent the city of Boston as ambassadors of harmony.’’

Working with the Royal Court in Jordan, the US State Department, and cultural organizations in Jordan, Howse laid the groundwork for what eventually became a two-week visit to Jordan in July by 65 members of the chorus.

Ranging in age from 11 to 18, the chorus members gave a total of seven performances in the city of Amman and in rural towns. Call it cultural diplomacy, chorus-style.

The visit was chronicled by 25-year-old filmmaker Olivia Spalletta in “This Is the Sound of Harmony,’’ a documentary that will be screened at the Boston Public Library on Thursday at 6 p.m. (the screening is open to the public). We spoke with Spalletta recently about the film.

Q. What do you see as the overarching story of your documentary?

A. We focus on the stories of five very different children within the chorus. You see Jordanian children interacting with American children, one-on-one. We’ve come to see this film as an opportunity for children and adults to revisit the stereotypes that they may have about Middle Eastern culture. The story that we’re telling is about the potential that we have to connect with people even when we have stereotypes about what their culture is like.

Q. Does this say something about the power of song to build bridges?

A. Oh yeah, absolutely. There was a South African song called “Tshotsholoza’’ that they sang at almost every performance. It’s really catchy. After the performance a lot of the little Jordanian kids picked it up and were singing it, even though they didn’t understand the words. Music is a language that almost every single human being understands.

Q. When the Jordanian kids and the American kids interacted, was it mostly through music?

A. For some of them it was, but they talked about everything. . . . For adults, there’s a barrier. But the kids would talk about baseball, about “Hannah Montana.’’ They bonded over everything.

Q. Did you begin to see the country through the kids’ eyes?

A. I thought it would be a challenge, that there would be less ground for connection. I’m still thinking about how easily these kids were able to connect, and what that means for the future. These kids are going forward with a personal connection to many children in the Middle East. I wonder how that will change their point of view and perspective as they become adults.

Interview was condensed and edited.

BCC Artistic Director Discusses the Boston Arts Environment

New England Cable News

State of Education: Making the Grade in Massachusetts
The Arts Advantage: Part 5
By Chet Curtis of NECN and Paul Grogan of the Boston Foundation
February 18, 2009

In this segment, the panel looks more at the Boston Children's Chorus. Artistic Director Anthony Trecek-King discusses setting high expectations, and creating an environment for students to meet them. And the panel looks toward what is going to take to get skeptics to acknowledge the benefits of arts in education. (11:46)

Profile of the Boston Children's Chorus

New England Cable News

State of Education: Making the Grade in Massachusetts
The Arts Advantage: Part 4
By Peter Howe
February 18, 2009

At the Boston Children's Chorus, singers are learning how to make beautiful music, and you'll probably never imagine how much they're also learning about math and reading and diligent study habits. NECN business reporter Peter Howe takes a closer look. (5:17)

Boston Children's Chorus to sing the praises of King and Obama

Bay State Banner

By Tierney McAfee
December 11, 2008

The Boston Children’s Chorus (BCC) has a lot to celebrate this holiday season.

For the first time ever, the group’s annual hour-long Martin Luther King Jr. Day concert will be broadcast live nationally from Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory.

According to BCC Artistic Director Anthony Trecek-King, the Jan. 19, 2009 concert will be the first of its kind to be nationally syndicated in the U.S.

Mia Ferguson, 15, a member of BCC’s elite Premier Chorus, hopes the upcoming sixth annual concert will unite viewers across the country.

“We’ve seen such a divide in the country with the election and I think it’s really incredible that this concept that we have of making change through music will be seen across the country,” Ferguson said. “It’s important for people to see that everyone can feel the same message and get the sense that a change can be made, and that we can all work together to make something beautiful.”

This year’s event is also unique because it will take place the day before President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration on Jan. 20, which Trecek-King feels will bring a special spirit to the show.

“This is what Dr. King was fighting for. Obama’s presidency is a symbol for equality,” said Trecek-King, who has been with the choir for more than three years. “I think for a lot of people, there’s this feeling of Dr. King’s dream coming together. You can celebrate the president and you can celebrate Dr. King; it’s all linked.”

The event, hosted by special guest Louis Gossett Jr., will feature two BCC choirs, the Young Men’s Ensemble and the Premier Chorus, as well as performances from the Young People’s Chorus of New York City and dancers from the Boston Arts Academy.

In keeping with the dual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the inauguration, one of the songs the Premier Chorus will perform is “Change We Can Believe In,” which was written for the Obama campaign.

Premier Chorus member Xana Turner-Owens, 16, says she is looking forward to celebrating King’s legacy, as well as the “excitement and possibilities that the election represents.”

“For me, the election has sparked a new excitement about this time and what youth in particular are capable of,” she said.

The BCC aims to spark similar sentiments in others through its concert. The annual event is intended not only to reinforce the chorus’ mission of social change by honoring the slain civil rights icon, but also to show its singers and their families that they too can be an example of diversity and tolerance — as well as a major force of change.

“It’s our mission to bring people from different backgrounds together,” Trecek-King said. “Our choir has people who live below the poverty line and people whose families make [hundreds of] thousands of dollars a year and … they really do become friends and hang out on the weekends. And I think that’s really special.”

The event will also commemorate the chorus’ fifth season. Over the years, the BCC has grown from 20 kids who met to sing together into the mission-based group it is today, with nine choirs of children from grades 2 to 12. Members hail from the city and from suburbs like Harvard, Oxford, Brockton, Randolph and Weston.

Turner-Owens, who has been with the chorus since its founding in 2003, says this is the Premier Chorus’ year to shine.

“We’ve been doing this concert since the choir started and it’s been really cool to watch us grow,” she said. “We’re finally taking ownership of MLK Day. I’m looking forward to seeing the final outcome.”

Paul Jordan Talbot, 17, a Men’s Ensemble member and one of the few male members of the Premier Choir, says BCC helps connect people from different backgrounds not only within the choir but also through their concerts.

“We perform a lot of concerts that are accessible to everyone, and this one is no exception,” Talbot said. “We’ve done shows that range from places like Roxbury Community College to Faneuil Hall and Jordan Hall, so we really have this broad spectrum that allows anyone to come see our concerts.”

BCC also celebrates diversity through its music selections. Their songs run the gamut, from spirituals to modern arrangements of classical pieces to Spanish songs.

Recently, the group has been focusing on Arabic tunes because they will tour the Middle Eastern nation of Jordan this summer.

“We definitely try to use our music and our community to make a change in our city’s attitude toward the Middle East,” Ferguson said. “We’ve been in touch with an Iraqi choir, and that was definitely inspired by the MLK Day celebration because we’re trying to make change within the now and not getting stuck in the past.”

Trecek-King conducts the Young Men’s Ensemble and the Premier Chorus, and chose a number of jazz and gospel songs for the choir. One group favorite is Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday.”

Trecek-King, or “Mr. T-K” to his singers, selected much of the music for the concert based on his research of a variety of popular ’60s and ’70s music.

“I wanted to find some sort of historical basis as to what was going on during that time, and then I looked at some of the stuff that’s happening now,” he said. “It’s difficult to find pieces that are accessible and well-written that work for a youth choir. We try to walk the boundary between accessible and artistically viable.”

Trecek-King says he hopes the music of the Boston Children’s Chorus will reach a very diverse audience.

“Every culture has music and everyone in some way is touched by music,” he said. “It has an inner rhythm that speaks to people beyond the words. If you sing with the intent of the piece and the emotion of the piece people get it. It’s really wonderful to be moved to tears or moved to laughter or moved to smile or moved to groove with music.”

The Boston Children’s Chorus Martin Luther King Day Concert will be held Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. in Jordan Hall at the New England Conservatory. The chorus will also perform with the Back Bay Ringers this Saturday, Dec. 13, at the “’Tis the Season” concert at Faneuil Hall, which starts at 10:30 a.m.

For tickets and more information, visit www.bostonchildrenschorus.org.

Taking kids' voices seriously

The Boston Globe

By Jeremy Eichler, Globe Staff
June 8, 2008

Since its founding in 2003, the Boston Children's Chorus has grown from a 20-singer pilot program to a group that serves almost 300 kids, ages seven to 18 years old, singing in nine different choirs. It was founded by the Boston education activist Hubie Jones with the hope of bridging racial divides through its multi-ethnic makeup. These days, the chorus actively recruits in the Boston schools and also draws kids from over 50 towns and cities across greater Boston, with half of the children coming from families making $50,000 or less. Auditions are ongoing throughout the summer.

But BCC aspires to be more than a feel-good, bridge-building project, according to Anthony Trecek-King, the dynamic 32-year-old conductor who is completing his second year as the chorus's artistic director. He takes the chorus's musical ambitions at least as seriously as its social mission. This week he has been leading rehearsals for the group's season-closing concert but on Monday afternoon he could be found in his South End office, where contemporary Baltic choral music was pouring out of the stereo. He lowered the volume and spoke with a visitor.

Q. How are the social and artistic missions of this group integrated?

A. At the outset, many people said you can't do this. You can't make the organization more open - socially, economically, racially, religiously - and still be really good artistically. But I don't see it as a choice. The choir has to be good in order to achieve some of the social outcomes. We also want to start locally and see if we can get this movement to go beyond just Boston to be kind of a national thing, where everyone is constantly thinking about providing greater access to the arts.

Q. How does the chorus's mission play itself out in practice?

A. We have kids whose parents make well over six figures, and kids who are living below the poverty line, but when we're in rehearsal, you can't tell who's who. They become friends and they hang out on weekends. And when they're drawn together, then their parents are forced to interact too. You actually see this thing happening on a daily basis.

Q. Does singing in a chorus make this possible in a way that's different than, say, playing in an orchestra?

A. Yes. It's easier to break down barriers because you're using your voice and communicating at such a primitive level. So choirs can form communities very quickly, in a different way than with instrumentalists. Plus, all cultures sing - but not all cultures play the violin. So you can sing a piece from Africa, Asia, or South America - and then use those as jumping-off points. But what I love and adore is when I eventually pick out "Lift Thine Eyes" from Mendelssohn's "Elijah" - or something from Mozart's Requiem, or a Bach cantata - and the kids just love it. To me this is when you've had some success. A few years earlier, many of the kids never would have touched this stuff.

Q. Is your goal to produce future professional singers?

A. My hope is that by the time they're finished with us and they graduate, they are capable of going into music, but that's not our point. To me, you should only pursue a career in music if you have to do it, and not because you want to do it. A lot of kids choose it because they want to, and that's when they fizzle out.

Q. How did you choose to go into music?

A. At University of Nebraska [at] Omaha, I wanted to be an engineer but I also took some music classes and the chair of the department called me and said, 'Have you ever seen anyone like you conduct?' I said, 'No, I haven't. In all my days, I've never seen an African-American conductor.' He told me I had some talent in the area and I should consider it. That planted the seed, and I eventually explored it further. I kept trying not to do it, but it pulled me back in!

Q. The lack of diversity in orchestras and their audiences continues to be a tremendous problem in classical music. Do you see enough being done to address this?

A. I think it's very important that we figure out some way to break through that barrier. We do need to do more, but I don't have that answer. I think it's about building deep relationships with the communities we're trying to reach. The chorus plays a part in that.

Q. How do you recruit, and do you find the kids to be responsive?

A. We go into the schools. . . . When I walk into a classroom in Dorchester or Roxbury, and the kids look at me, there's an instant connection. I don't have to break down some sort of resistance to it. It makes it a bit easier to bridge gaps and so on, but there's also a certain danger in becoming known as 'that guy who bridges gaps.' I'm a musician first.

Q. What in your opinion has been lost by taking music out of the public schools to the extent that we have?

A. We've lost a ton. The Boston Children's Chorus shouldn't exist. There shouldn't be a reason for us. Every public school should have arts. You need academics, athletics, and arts to create a complete human being. When you start taking out one or two of those things, we lose something tremendous. I think this lack of creativity and this lack of completeness is going to be a real problem that will show up once these kids are graduating and becoming part of the workforce. . . . I believe in music's ability to transform lives. It transformed my life. And when I go to a school where there is very little music, or no music, I just wonder - why would a student want to go to school if there's nothing extra to hang onto?

Q. The chorus has also been involved in commissioning composers to write new works for the kids. Are young people more open to challenging contemporary music than adults?

A. Yes, absolutely. When I work with kids, if I love the piece and I come with conviction, then they buy into it. Even if they don't quite get it, they're willing to try. And often if you're working with adults, that's not necessarily the case - there can be a lot of push-back. Kids don't really see limitations in the same way. It's very inspiring. I look at what the older kids can do as the equivalent of what adults can do, and even beyond that. Ultimately, I want the group to be looked upon as of one the great choruses of the United States, not one of the great children's choruses of the United States.

Song in Their Hearts
Boston Children’s Chorus gives voice to city youth

Bay State Banner

By Talia Whyte
May 8, 2008

Artistic director Anthony Trecek-King (right) leads the Boston Children's Chorus Premier Choir in concert. Students say that "Mr. T-K," as his young charges call him, goes above and beyond just teaching music. He says he tries to "make them good citizens who are goal-oriented" and prepared to succeed.

On a typical afternoon at the South End offices of the Boston Children's Chorus, the voices of children are everywhere — in the songs the kids practice with the chorus' teaching fellows; in the boisterous peals of laughter that fill rehearsal rooms and accompany recaps of what happened in school that day; even in the heads of parents sitting in the waiting room, thinking about what to make for dinner.

For the youth and their families, the Boston Children's Chorus is all about voices — the music they can make, the community they can create and the social healing they can provide.

"We are a family here," said Mary Ann Brennan Newcomb, BCC's director of development. "We have a social mission here to bring down the social barriers and bring together kids and their families from different backgrounds and racial identities for the common cause of tolerance and understanding."

Since its inception five years ago, the chorus has become the city's leading educational organization for uniting youth with the power of song, bringing together children in grades 2-12 to serve as ambassadors for the city through their performances, both locally and internationally.

The chorus is the brainchild of longtime community activist Hubie Jones, who decided after seeing a similar choir in Chicago that it was time for Boston to have its own. When it began, the chorus had fewer than 50 participants. Today, it boasts nearly 300 singers in nine different choirs, ranging in age from 7 to 18.

This is a particularly emotional year for the chorus, as three of its original members will soon be graduating high school. Sherylynn Sealy, 17, president of the Premier Choir, a program for advanced singers, will be graduating from Shrewsbury High School and attending Northeastern University in the fall.

"I love doing this," Sealy said. "Anyone who has the opportunity to do this should do it. We get to travel everywhere to perform and meet a lot of interesting people."

The chorus performs at more than 50 events per season, including recent trips to Japan, Mexico and Chicago. They have also performed at a number of notable local events, including the inauguration of Gov. Deval Patrick, the Boston Pops Orchestra's July 4 celebrations at the Esplanade and the welcoming concert for Boston Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carol Johnson. Many of the singers are now preparing to perform at a music festival in Oregon.

Their performances have even attracted the attention of heads of state — King Abdullah II of Jordan, who attended a recent performance by the Premier Choir at the Harvard Club, is very supportive of the chorus' work.

While the opportunity to travel and meet famous people is certainly a bonus to being in the chorus, for many of the singers, the highlight of membership is the chance to interact with other young people that they wouldn't normally meet. The chorus' singers hail from more than 50 different cities and towns in the Greater Boston area, representing a wide variety of racial, religious and economic backgrounds.

"The chorus is really interesting," said Jaleel Johnson, 14, of Dedham, an original chorus member who joined five years ago. "I get to meet new people from all over the city. Being part of this is fun, and it gives me something constructive to do with my time."

A member of both the Premier and Young Men's choirs, Johnson must balance his singing with the demands of Pop Warner football and keeping up his grades in school.

While school and other extracurricular activities are important for the chorus' members, many agree that they are pushed to practice and perform their best by artistic director Anthony Trecek-King, or "Mr. T-K" to his young singers.

"What is so great about these kids is that they are such hard workers," Trecek-King said. "We have been working on a lot of the psychology behind the music. We don't just talk about music; we also talk about life in general. Many of the kids come from stressful environments. What I do here is try to make them good citizens who are goal-oriented."

It's a mission shared by chorus members' parents, many of whom engage in fundraising for chorus trips and provide transportation to performances around the city.

Joel Piton is the father of 8-year-old Courtney Piton, who is about to complete her year in the Treble Choir, a group for beginners. Piton travels from Randolph every Tuesday afternoon so that his daughter can participate.

"Courtney has aspirations to be a musician," Piton said, a guitarist in his own band. "She sings and plays instruments. The choir gives her structure."

The chorus is now holding auditions for new singers to join for the next performance season, beginning in September.

Dwijuana Reed, 15, of Dorchester hopes more youth from Boston will want to share the experiences of making new friends and using music as an instrument for social change in the community.

"I look forward to coming here everyday," Reed said. "I feel like I am making a difference in my life."

For more information about the Boston Children's Chorus, including auditions, please call 617-778-2242 or visit www.bostonchildrenschorus.org.