About Us
Now in its 16th season, The Children’s Chorus of Greater Dallas (CCGD) is recognized as one of Dallas’s premier arts and educational organizations. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Cynthia Nott, CCGD pursues its mission of “providing Dallas-area young people the experience of artistry and excellence through choral singing in a group that reflects the area’s diversity” by annually performing approximately 30 concerts for live audiences totaling up to 25,000 patrons, frequently collaborating with local arts organizations including the Arts District Chorale, Dallas Bach Society, Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and Orpheus Chamber Singers, and regularly touring nationally and internationally, including performances at Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony’s Symphony Hall, Notre Dame, Toronto’s Skydome, the Vatican, and many more.
Founded in 1996, CCGD has grown from an organization with 70 students in two choruses to a top-tier youth choral program, boasting more than 500 young choristers in a total of nine choruses. Heralded by Dallas Symphony Music Director Jaap van Zweden as “…one of the best (children’s choruses) I’ve ever heard,” CCGD is widely known for its artistic excellence and has performed, by invitation, at three nationaland two regional choral conventions. CCGD students are directed by six lead conductors, all of whom are not only excellent musicians, but master teachers as well.
As a guiding principle, CCGD is committed to serving, educating and developing the widest possible audience through its programs, including DISD in-school performances, three Neighborhood Choirs in the underserved area of West Dallas, an annual Summer Singing Camp, a tuition assistance program, and various programs which seek to support local area music teachers. CCGD currently allocates 20% of its operating budget to these programs in an effort to ensure that the organization serves as much of a geographically, economically and ethnically diverse group of singers and patrons as possible. Currently, CCGD has an ethnic diversity rate of 36% among its students.
CCGD’s 16 board members, 225 volunteers and 20 staff members offer its students one of the richest choral, cultural, and life experiences in North America. In sixteen short years, the participation rate in the chorus has grown by more than 600% and the organization’s budget has grown by more than 900%.
