Photo: Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs
Local singer set to take the Ordway stage with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs.
How many performers dream of looking out at an audience from the stage at the Ordway? Madeleine Schroeder—only 12—already had her chance.
Madeleine, a seventh grader at Minnetonka Middle School East, started singing with Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs, based in Bloomington, as a soprano when she was 7 years old. She credits the choir with serving as an impactful extracurricular outlet from her busy schedule and as a wonderful way to meet peers who are just as enthusiastic about music as she is. “[It’s] a good opportunity to make friends and connections with other people,” Madeleine says. “There’s less stage fright because there’s other people too.”
Angelica Cantanti brings together young singers from the Twin Cities for high quality musical enrichment and performances. This month the choir, celebrating its 45th anniversary, is performing a concert at the Ordway, inviting families, friends and the greater community to share in the joy of its 10 talent-filled and vibrant choirs. Madeleine will be among the performers.
Madeleine, who also has instrumental musical interest and plays saxophone in her school band, says that she loves “any type of art” and takes every opportunity she can to listen to music. With Angelica Cantanti, Madeleine has primarily been exposed to classical pieces and has learned to love the special storytelling of the choir’s performances. “But I love all the different genres,” she says of the wide world of musical possibilities.
This sense of musical and artistic wonder is exactly what leaders at Angelica Cantanti hope to foster in young people. Executive director Audrey Riddle notes that the choir is ideal for singers who care about music. “I love seeing them grow,” Riddle says of the singers. “I love to see them fall in love with choir.”
During her first year participating in Angelica Cantanti, Madeleine was given a solo, which she performed at the Basilica of Saint Mary and the spring concert at the Ordway. Another highlight for Madeleine was singing a solo in Japanese, a challenge not uncommon for Angelica Cantanti members. Riddle notes that they challenge the tenacious singers with unique arrangements and songs in foreign languages. Singing is a passion and skill that Riddle hopes all the young artists at Angelica Cantanti will continue to nurture throughout their lives.
To get a true taste of the depth of the choirs’ talent, Riddle encourages the community to attend Angelica Cantanti’s performance (4:30 p.m., featuring Con Brio, Cantabile and the concert choir, and 7:30 p.m., featuring the concert choir, Treble Singers and Cantanti Singers) December 7 at the Ordway, a treasured Metro venue with wonderful acoustics. “Come and hear young voices,” she says. “There’s just nothing like it.” Madeleine’s mother, Ani Barr, already knows the thrill of being in the audience when the choirs perform. “I’m continually impressed,” she says.
Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs
Instagram: @angelicachoirs
The Ordway Center for Performing Arts
Instagram: @the_ordway
