Philadelphia Girls Choir
PHILADELPHIA GIRLS CHOIR is an after-school music education program for girls seven and older. It was established in 2012 with 18 girls. As more joined the organization in the fall of 2012, the choir was split into three distinct ensembles: Etude, Cantata and Concerto. As PGC begins its 5th season, there are 200 girls enrolled. Cantata’s most recent performances include an appearance at the National Constitution Center as well as the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Concerto girls perform in the Pennsylvania Ballet’s annual holiday production of “George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker,” and began touring annually in the summer of 2014, traveling to Prague, Kraków and Vienna. In 2015, they traveled to Italy and sang for mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. This past spring, they performed regionally in New Hampshire and then internationally, in Spain and Portugal this past July. The girls also perform around the region during the winter holidays. Philadelphia Girls Choir takes a holistic approach to choral music. PGC relates singing, musicianship and choral performance to the broader human experience through art, drama, history and cultural diversity. Each year, the Choir’s repertoire has a core idea that relates to experiences the girls will have throughout the year, including visiting museums, attending performances and performing in locations that are tied to the core repertoire. For the current season the theme is “Women in Music.” Nathan Wadley is the music director for the Choir. He began his training at the age of 11 when he became a chorister with The American Boychoir. 15 years later, Wadley returned to become the resident training choir director of The American Boychoir School. Prior to joining PGC, he was a conductor with the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, conducting both the Troubadors and Kantorei ensembles. Wadley has developed Kodály-based music education and theory programs for several organizations, and has incorporated those methods into the training programs of all three choirs.