The Children's Festival Chorus

The Children’s Festival Chorus, a non-profit organization, is one of the premier choral ensembles of young people on the country. Founded in 1983, and noted for their versatility in all styles of music, these engaging children are skillfully guided by Music Director Christine Jordanoff, Chair of the Music Education Department of Duquesne University and conducting assistants Elaine Goldsmith and Lisa Santillan.

Dedicated to discovering, educating, nurturing and providing opportunities for talented youths to express their artistic abilities, The Children’s Festival Chorus includes singers from seventy different schools and five counties. CFC has developed performance relationships with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Pops, River City Brass Band, Pittsburgh Opera and the Mendelssohn Choir among others. The Chorus has been featured on WQED-TV, KDKA-TV, WTAE-TV, various radio stations and has been heard internationally on “Voice of America.”

CFC rehearses at Duquesne University where it provides a “living laboratory” for Music Education majors…our future teachers. With the possibility of subsequent passage into the Junior Mendelssohn and Mendelssohn Choir, the children are a vital link in the choral education concept called TRIAD. This concept was developed in 1988 by Robert Page and Christine Jordanoff.

The artistic excellence of CFC is widely recognized, as evidenced by its continuing referred selection to appear at prestigious annual national choral conferences. As the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote, “Here in Pittsburgh, the Children’s Festival Chorus is also a world class ensemble, as can be heard nearby at the Benedum Center, performing in Carmen with the Pittsburgh Opera.”

These choristers, representing numerous cultures, races and socio-economic backgrounds, delight audiences with their broad range of singing styles from across the music spectrum as Marvin Hamlisch enthused after a recent Pittsburgh Symphony Pops concert, “The Children’s Festival Chorus…came to the rehearsal fully prepared…their talent and sound was a joy. I look forward to working with them again and again.”