About the Choir & FAQ
Excellence | Collaboration | Artistry
Mission:
To give every young person in CNY the opportunity to be a part of a choir that will not only teach them about music, but help them grow into greater citizens of the world.
The Syracuse Youth Chorus is a community music organization where young singers can come to better their musicianship, music leadership, and mental fortitude. SYC performs in meaningful collaborations, bringing choral excellence and a stronger sense community through music to CNY. Our students are given the space to move towards their bright and shining futures.
Syracuse Youth Chorus is a brand new chorus, who's origin and philosophies are heavily influenced by Dr. Barbara Marble Tagg's Syracuse Children's Chorus(SCC's Founder and Artistic Director from 1981-2010). When SCC was dissolved in 2018, a large hole was left in the area's music community for our children. We are looking to bring choral singing back to the youth in our beloved CNY.
Our Beliefs:
All young people should get the chance to be a part of something musically excellent.
Singing can be used for personal health/growth.
Training young minds to hold themselves to healthy high standards.
Children are profoundly and positively influenced by experiencing unique and thrilling musical collaborations.
We are stronger as a community together than we are when we’re apart.
All people deserve respect, dignity, care, and compassion.
We are responsible citizens of a global community.
Children can do extraordinary things.
Children are capable of great artistry.
Children can experience aesthetic beauty at an early age.
Children thrive when challenged artistically.
Music can unite the world.
Music can have a powerful impact on the lives of all people.
Music education is vital to all children.
Music is vibrant and alive in all cultures.
Singing is a lifelong, enriching activity.
Singing together unites a community.
Choral singing is inherently inclusive.
Choral singing develops a unique balance of individual and group talent and effort.
Our Vision:
Bring love of music to CNY and beyond.
Foster leaders of our next generation.
A world that is transformed by the power of music.
A world that values music education.
A world that appreciates the individual and collective talents of children.
A world that the SYC makes a better place.
SYC as an innovative leader among education and cultural institutions.
SYC as an organization which exemplifies best practices for cultural institutions.
A community that educates and nurtures everyone it touches.
A chorus that continues to grow and serve.
Meet Our Team
Katie Weber
Artistic Director
Katie is a singer and teacher. After moving back to Syracuse in July 2021, she has taught in the Baldwinsville and Jamesville DeWitt school districts. As a native CNY-er, she is honored to get the chance to come back to her home town and teach the next generation of music makers.
She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, and made her Off-Broadway Debut in Sweetee: A New Musical directed by Emmy Award Winner Pat Birch at New York's Perishing Square Signature Theater. She has multiple Off-Off Broadway credits, including Icons/Idols at the New Ohio Theater, and originated several roles in new musicals and operas while in NYC.
Katie has a double bachelors degree from Eastman School of Music in Vocal Performance and Music Education, and has her NYS teaching certification in K-12 Music. Her love of teaching never dimmed while building her performing career. She taught in her own studio, for NYC’s Soyulla Artists, The Hudson School, and Front and Center Performing Arts.
Carolyn Weber
Junior Choir Director
Carolyn R. T. Weber, is a mezzo-soprano, has lived most of her life in Central New York. She has been teaching on the voice faculty at the Syracuse University Setnor School of Music since 2005 and enjoys working with graduate and undergraduate singers across the spectrum of vocalists at Setnor, from Vocal Performance, Music Education, Music Industry, Musical Theatre, Bandier as well as instrumental majors studying voice as a secondary instrument, to students in all non-music degree programs at Syracuse University.
Mrs. Weber was also a vocal/general music teacher in the Fayetteville-Manlius School District, first from 1983-1995, and returned to teaching music in the F-M School District in 2013 after raising her three children. She happily retired in the spring of 2023 with 20 years of dedicated work and service.
Carolyn earned her BME in Choral/General Music from Indiana University in Bloomington and her MM in Vocal Performance from Syracuse University. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and for over 30 years has maintained a private voice studio for students 12 to Adult.