Pop-up Concert Spreads Holiday Cheer at the National Museum of American History

The Smithsonian Associates’ Encore Chorale delighted visitors at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History with a surprise performance yesterday. Conductor Jeanne Kelly led the group in a performance of “Thirty Second Fa-la-la” by Donald Moore and “African Noel” arranged by Andre J. Thomas. Museum visitors watched as nearly 80 singers moved into the museum’s Flag Hall from various wings gathering for the surprise holiday performance. The crowd erupted into applause when the performance ended.

Now in its eighth year, the Smithsonian Associates’ Encore Chorale begins a new session of weekly rehearsals Wednesday, Jan. 14. The classes, offered in the morning and the evening at the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center, are designed for singers 55 and older and are instructive and enjoyable. Participants learn proper breathing techniques and how to improve their voice through tone production as the conductors guide participants through 15 rehearsals in four-part singing, which culminates into a free public performance. No audition is required to join.

The Smithsonian Associates—the largest museum-based education program in the world—produces vibrant educational and cultural programming inspired by the Smithsonian’s research, collections and exhibitions. Each year more than 750 individual programs are presented to spark creativity and excite learning in people of all ages in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country. The Smithsonian Associates, which marks its 50th anniversary in 2015, brings the Smithsonian to life through seminars, performances, lectures, studio arts classes and local and regional study tours, as well as many engaging programs for children, including performances, museum sleepovers and summer day camps.

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