The Young Americans to visit region, performances slated in Franklin, Clarion areas

The Young Americans, a performance group based in southern California, will hold workshops in the Franklin and Clarion areas. (Contributed photo)

From staff reports

The Young Americans, a non-profit organization performing group based in southern California, is seeking area students in third through 12th grade to participate in its “Turn Up The Music National Tour.”

The performing group will host three-day signature workshops in the region.

The Keystone School District workshop will be held from Sunday and Monday, Oct. 29-30, and Thursday, Nov. 2. There will be two performances held at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, and Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the high school auditorium.

Clarion-Limestone (Clarion Area) School Districts workshop will be held Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 2-Nov. 4. There will be one performance at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 4, in the high school auditorium.

The workshop in the Franklin area will be held Sunday, Nov. 5, at St. John’s Episcopal Church and Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 6- 7, at the Barrow Civic Theatre. There will be one performance at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Barrow Civic Theatre.

Specially-trained instructors will cover everything from vocal techniques, dance, and comedy improvisation, to stage movement, sound, lighting, and more. Students will be separated into elementary, middle, and high school groups to learn age-appropriate material.

After the workshops, student participants will put on a public performance. The Young Americans cast of 45 will perform the first act, and then, local students will perform the second act. The show will include choral, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, rock n’ roll and more.

Tickets will be $8 to$10 and will be sold at the end of the workshop day and 30 minutes prior to the performance.

Registration for 16 hours of performance, dance and vocal workshops is $59 per student and includes a tour T-shirt. Students can collect signatures on their shirt after the performance from The Young Americans cast and their friends. Limited scholarships may be available for registration fees.

For more information and to register, people may visit reg.youngamericans.org. For tour and workshop videos, people may visit yalive.com.

About the Young Americans

 The International Music Outreach Tours were created by The Young Americans in 1992 to bring music back into schools. Since the first group stepped into a high school gymnasium in Florida, their programs have created the largest music education movement in the world. Annually, they visit more than 200 communities and work with more than 52,000 students, inspiring youth, empowering teachers, and strengthening education systems across the globe. Their youth programs have touched lives in nearly all 50 states and beyond, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ukraine, Gibraltar, Spain, Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, China, Japan and South Africa.

Clarion connection

The Clarion County workshops and performances will include two local high school alumni.

Eric Funk Jr. is a 2016 graduate of Clarion Area High School and is casting with the East Coast Tour. Rachel Bennett is a Keystone High School alum and will be joining the cast during the Keystone workshop.

Both are students at The Young American’s College of Performing Arts in Corona, California., along with Sarah Hubauer, a Clarion-Limestone alum.

More information about the Clarion County workshops is available by contacting the choir directors at one of the participating schools or Barb Funk at (814) 229-4555.

Host families needed

Local families are also needed to host two or more Young Americans during this event. As a non-profit organization, they rely on families to help house their touring group as they do their community outreach. Host families have helped house over 3,000 Young Americans in 25 countries.