Pacific Youth Choir

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Pacific Youth Choir 🎵 Portland's premier youth choral program
📚 Committed to equitable access to music education⁣⁣
🌱 Nurturing character & belonging through singing

Pacific Youth Choir is designed as a complete graduated choral program. It features ten choirs and serves singers in grades kindergarten through 12th grade. As Pacific Youth Choir students mature in their choral skills they are given developmentally appropriate musical and choral challenges. Through a broad range of choral literature they learn to sing with solid musicianship, tone, and a love for the artistry of great choral singing.

About 200 singers walked into Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 9:30 Saturday morning, September 19. By 5:00 PM they were o...
10/02/2026

About 200 singers walked into Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at 9:30 Saturday morning, September 19. By 5:00 PM they were one choir. 🎶

Choral Ascend brought middle and high school singers from across the region together for a single day of rehearsal with Dr. Nathan Payant, with singers from Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland singing right alongside them.

Many of them had never sung together before that morning. You wouldn't have known it by the last chord.

Thank you to Dr. Payant, Choral Arts Ensemble, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, and every director who brought their students. 💙

Send this to a singer who was in the room.

The fall retreat runs on circles. On the lawn in front of the field. Cross-legged on the carpet by the water coolers. St...
09/17/2026

The fall retreat runs on circles. On the lawn in front of the field. Cross-legged on the carpet by the water coolers. Standing in the hall with the chairs pushed back.⁣
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We ran it twice, one group Friday into Saturday and the next Saturday into Sunday, about 140 singers between them. New music sight-read cold. Swings at ten in the morning. An open mic where singers got up one at a time, which takes a specific kind of nerve.⁣
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Both times, by the last morning, a kid who showed up knowing nobody had somebody to sit next to. That's the whole reason we go.⁣
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Send this to a family whose singer just started with us. 💙⁣
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08/31/2026

First day back and already making beautiful music together - a wonderful sign of things to come in season 24!

A favor, if you're willing.Auditions for our 24th season are Sunday, August 23, by appointment, 1 to 4 p.m. at Trinity E...
07/23/2026

A favor, if you're willing.

Auditions for our 24th season are Sunday, August 23, by appointment, 1 to 4 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. Kindergarten through age 24.

We find singers the way we always have. Somebody who already loves this choir thinks of a kid and says something. Not ads. Not algorithms. You.

So who came to mind just now? The neighbor's kid who sings in the car. A student you taught who needed one more place to belong. Your own kid, who you've been meaning to ask.

Send this to them. That's the whole ask.

Half our singers receive tuition assistance — if cost is what stops a family from clicking, tell them to ask us. Details and booking in the first comment.

Back in May, some of you were in the room when we shared it — and now it's official for everyone: Pacific Youth Choir is...
07/09/2026

Back in May, some of you were in the room when we shared it — and now it's official for everyone: Pacific Youth Choir is going to Canada.

Our high school singers have been invited to perform at Kathaumixw, an international choral festival in Powell River, British Columbia. In July 2027, our Pacific and Chamber high schoolers will join choirs from around the world for five days of music-making on the edge of the Salish Sea.

Kathaumixw is a Coast Salish word, gifted to the festival by the Tla'amin Nation. It means "a gathering together of different peoples." For a choir that believes every young person deserves a place to belong, it's hard to imagine a more fitting stage — or a bigger one to grow toward.

From here it becomes a journey we take together over the year ahead — the preparation, the music, the growth, and eventually the trip itself. Details for our high school families are coming soon.

To everyone who's already cheering this on: thank you. The countdown to Powell River starts now. 💙

Pacific Youth Choir isn't built by a staff. It's built by all of us.Every kid who finds their voice this year, every sin...
07/07/2026

Pacific Youth Choir isn't built by a staff. It's built by all of us.

Every kid who finds their voice this year, every singer walking a little taller, every family who feels at home in our rehearsal room — that's not something we do to a community. It's something we do with one.

This season we're saying it out loud: you're already part of growing this choir — bring a singer who belongs here, spread the word to a family we'd never find on our own, show up as a volunteer, or invest so a seat stays open for a kid whose family couldn't otherwise say yes.

All year, we'll keep showing you how. Because this choir is yours too. 💙

Season 24 begins August 30 — and we can't wait.New music is chosen. New singers are on their way. And in a handful of we...
07/02/2026

Season 24 begins August 30 — and we can't wait.

New music is chosen. New singers are on their way. And in a handful of weeks, rehearsal rooms across Portland fill back up with the sound of young people becoming musicians — and becoming themselves.

To this whole community: the season ahead belongs to all of us. 💙

We're proud to share something big: Pacific Youth Choir is commissioning a brand-new choral work — and inviting choirs a...
06/09/2026

We're proud to share something big: Pacific Youth Choir is commissioning a brand-new choral work — and inviting choirs across the country to premiere it with us. 🎶⁣⁣
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It's called Voices Forward, our national commissioning consortium. The new piece comes from acclaimed composer Dr. Marques L. A. Garrett, setting "To Catch a Star" by Portland poet and composer Coty Raven Morris — and choirs nationwide will bring it to life for the first time in Spring 2027.⁣⁣
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Here's where you come in. If you're a choir director — or you know one, like a teacher at your child's school or a church choir leader — joining the consortium means the complete score and parts, permanent rights to perform the work forever, and your choir's name published right in the score. All at a fraction of the cost of commissioning alone.⁣⁣
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Early bird registration is $395 through June 30. Link in comments 👇⁣⁣
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Know someone who leads a choir? Please pass this along.⁣⁣
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Three out of four kids who sing in a choir say it helps them feel less alone. Here's what the research shows about singi...
06/04/2026

Three out of four kids who sing in a choir say it helps them feel less alone. Here's what the research shows about singing together:⁣
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🎵 After just one hour, stress hormones drop and mood lifts — measurably.⁣
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🎵 Over months, singers show less anxiety and more wellbeing than kids who don't sing.⁣
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🎵 72% say it makes them feel more optimistic.⁣
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None of that surprises us. Every week, 215 young people from kindergarten through 12th grade walk into a PYC rehearsal and find a place where they belong — steadier, more connected, part of something bigger than themselves.⁣
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That's the quiet thing choir gives a kid that's hard to put into words. The science just helps us say it out loud.⁣
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Know a family whose child could use a place like this? Share this with them!
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Pre-registration for Choral Ascend is open — one day, one choir. 🎶⁣⁣On Saturday, September 19, middle and high school si...
05/29/2026

Pre-registration for Choral Ascend is open — one day, one choir. 🎶⁣
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On Saturday, September 19, middle and high school singers from across NW Oregon and SW Washington will spend an immersive day together at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral — rehearsing, growing, and performing as a single choir under this year's clinician, Dr. Nathan Payant of Colorado State University. The professional artists of Choral Arts Ensemble of Portland join them for the final performance.⁣
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Educators, this one's for you: reserve up to 8 spots for your school at $15 per singer, with assistance available so cost is never a barrier. Free workshops and re-licensure hours included.⁣
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If you know a music teacher who'd want their students in that room, share this with them — we'd love to fill the cathedral with young voices from every corner of the region.⁣
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Pre-register your school at the link in the comments. 💙⁣
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Address

1000 SW Broadway Suite 940
Portland, OR
97205

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4pm
Tuesday 9am - 4pm
Wednesday 9am - 4pm
Thursday 9am - 4pm
Friday 9am - 4pm

Telephone

+15037801675

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