Long Beach Camerata Children's Music Academy to Expand This Fall

The Camerata Children's Music Academy (CCMA) will present its pre-K music education program at three YMCA Early Childhood schools beginning this fall. The thirty-minute classes will be held three days a week at First Friendships Preschool, Mayne Street Preschool and 70th Street Preschool.  This is the second year of the LBCS-YMCA relationship with the program expanding from one location in 2022-23 to three locations for the 2023-2024 academic year.
 
Classes are taught by a team of music education professionals.  During the classes, students learn the fundamentals of tempo, rhythm, melody and harmony by participating in a variety of creative musical exercises.  According to YMCA Executive Director, Andrea Solsona, early childhood music education is essential to children's brain development, assists in reading and math learning capabilities, teaches teamwork, and helps to build self-confidence.
 
Led by Camerata's Pre-K Education Director, Andria Cabrera, and a staff of music education professionals, the Camerata Children's Music Academy is committed to eradicating music education inequities that start as early as age 2. Music education has been identified by the Camerata President, Jan B. Hower, as one of the primary areas for growth within the organization. 

Camerata's music education programs began in 2015, with the Camerata Kinder Konzerts, which presented interactive plays to elementary school age children teaching fundamental concepts using choral music.  “Meet Mr. Bach,” “Miss Carla's Dream,”  “Meet Mr. Brahms,” and “Christmas at the Rancho” were presented for several years. In 2019 LBCS brought the program to Young Horizons Child Development Centers and reworked it for pre-K learning needs.  

Long Beach Camerata Singers is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, 80-voice professional choir that has provided Long Beach residents with high-quality choral music for 57 years. Under the artistic direction of Grammy-winner Dr. James K. Bass, Director of Choral Studies and Chair of the Voice Area at UCLA, the choir presents five concerts a year, including a fully orchestrated performance of Handel's Messiah and the annual Peace Project concerts. In addition, the choir is often contracted by other organizations to fulfill the choral component of their programming. Camerata Singers' repertoire encompasses a wide range of works from the Renaissance to the present. In the 2022-2023 season LBCS premiered its all-professional chamber ensemble, The Catalyst Chamber Ensemble.  Please visit their website at www.LBCamerata.org.  

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