About Us
Passaggio Chorale is a performing, audition-only, youth chorale founded in 1998 by Director Dauri Shippey. It has performed two world premiere works and has been written about in the Juilliard Journal.
Mission
Founded in 1998, Passaggio Chorale is a performing youth chorale with a distinct focus on developing excellence, discipline, and the finest in music education in the young choral musician. Passaggio is an Italian word, which in context of the established goals for these young people, means a "rite of passage". Through disciplined study and performance of a wide variety and range of fine choral literature, including traditional, classic, sacred, and contemporary repertoire, as well as new and innovative compositions, and through mentoring partnerships with professional musicians, the singers receive a meritorious musical education and delight and inspire audiences wherever they perform.
Highly motivated and talented Passaggio members have sung in more than a dozen foreign languages, including Chinese, Hebrew, Italian and Welsh. Goals include incorporating introductory studies of the history, language, and culture of other lands through spoken text and song. Whenever possible, invited guests who are native speakers present their language and musical heritage to the Passaggio students. Guests have included native speakers from China, Kenya, Italy, Korea, Poland, and Russia.
Passaggio Chorale has performed two world premiere works and in area opera and theatre productions. They have been written about in the Juilliard Journal, the Almaden Times, and Central NJ's The Home News Tribune.
Passaggio Chorale is a non-incorporated, not for profit educational group devoted to the study and performance of music.
Opportunities
In addition to regularly performing premiere works, choral masterpieces of all styles and periods in many world languages including classical and folk songs, jazz and gospel, members star in operas and musical theatre productions. This season they will perform Gian-Carlo Menotti's 'Amahl and the Night Visitors'. They have performed at the Liederkranz Foundation in New York City, with the Little Opera Company of New Jersey, and with Boheme Opera Company at Trenton's War Memorial Opera House. Three of our members were also featured in a Broadway production of Baz Luhrman's La Boheme. In November of 2004, Passaggio Chorale produced its first opera, Gian-Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors", in association with Princeton Presbyterian Church.