Who We Are
The Evanston Children’s Choir is a dynamic platform for “diversity in harmony,” creating a transformative experience for young choir members from all walks of life and their varied audiences across Chicagoland.
With a commitment to inclusion and accessibility, positive energy and mutual respect, the ECC enables children and young adults grades 1 through 12 to find their voices through several strong, supportive ensembles with a reputation for musical excellence.
Our core program is an after-school treble choir program, accepting young people grades 1 through high school from all over the Greater Chicago area. We sing all types of both secular and sacred music, with an emphasis on multiculturalism. We strive to make the choir as accessible as possible, both to new members and to our audience. Accordingly, we do not turn any child away because of money, and we offer our outreach performances and self-produced concerts free of charge.
The ECC has performed in a wide variety of major venues including the Rosemont Theatre, Evanston’s Alice Millar Chapel, the Harris Theater in Chicago’s Millennium Park and Orchestra Hall. The ECC has grown from a mere three (3) singers at its inception to a multi-tiered program that continues to expand. ECC ensembles are regularly sought after for collaborations and have shared the stage with the likes of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, the Evanston Symphony, Barry Manilow, School of Rock, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Ondas Ensemble and the North Shore Choral Society. All the while, since its founding in 2002, the ECC has remained committed to its roots, serenading Evanstonians young and old in free outreach performances at schools and community centers.
New Voices, New Music, a New Tradition and New Horizons: 2025-2026 in Review, and What’s Next
Every season brings new things. That’s part of the continued excitement of doing this year after year. Throughout our history, our organization has been blessed with a steady stream of special opportunities and collaborative performances. Some milestones from the past several years are our debut radio broadcast on WFMT, our performance at the Apollo Chorus of Chicago’s 150th anniversary concert, an Orchestra Hall debut, a concert with School of Rock and our debut with the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra.
So, what was new this past season? One of the biggest changes was our experiment with keeping changed voices, adding lower vocal sections to our Concert Choir. It was a fun challenge—and a resounding success! Every song involved a trial-and-error process of deciding how to incorporate this new tonality, and the results have been exciting. In short: it works! It’s something we’re definitely going to continue.
Speaking of incorporating new voices, another thing we’re going to continue is welcoming adult community members to rehearse with us in the spring and join us onstage for the closing songs of our Spring Concert. We first did this in our 2024-2025 Season, and it was such a hit with our singers and audience alike that we decided to do it again this past season. I wondered if it would be a sort of “flash-in-the-pan” idea or something that would gain traction. Well, we once again got another substantial bunch of adults eager to jump in, and the results were the same—magnificent. Our May 2026 Spring Concert once again closed by filling the space with glorious sound from a wonderful combined choir, further bolstered by our friends Pro Musica from Oak Park. A new tradition has officially been born. [By the way, if any of you reading this want to get in on the action, watch for an announcement early in 2027 about our new song selection(s) and rehearsal times.]
And then there’s the new music we’re continuing to create. Inspired by our regular performances with the Evanston Symphony, and feeling the limits of available repertoire for orchestrated children’s choir music, we have been on a mission of sorts to expand this repertoire by having new such works produced for our group. This past season’s ECC original, “Santa’s Gonna Sleigh” (think ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” meets Frank Sinatra) was written and performed as part of a collaboration with our new friends, the Lake Forest Civic Orchestra. It was an absolute blast to perform, and a true crowd-pleaser. We’re already working on our next original for a return engagement with the LFCO this December.
To go along with our new mix of voices and new material, we have an awesome new concert venue lined up. I am excited to announce that we have already secured the world-class Nichols Concert Hall—part of the Music Institute of Chicago—for our Spring Concert 2027, right in the heart of Evanston. Our singers and audience alike deserve it, and it is reflective of that proverbial “next level” we never stop pursuing.
All of our groups are looking vibrant and healthy going into this new season. The Concert Choir is getting ever more attention, and is poised to take advantage of even more regional performance opportunities. Our Pop Hits Choir has proven popular as well, providing a fun gateway into our program for new singers via current songs that our kids know, love and want to sing. Story Choir continues to be another engaging option for beginners that is a little off the beaten path. Our residency at Pope John XXIII School has been renewed, and we have recently drawn interest from yet another area school for possible further expansion.
Great things are happening at the ECC. We hope you may consider being part of it all, either as an audience member, a supporter, or even as a choir member! —Gary Geiger, Artistic Director
Our primary rehearsal location is the Noyes Cultural Arts Center, 927 Noyes St., Studio 107, in Evanston. The ECC’s Choirs for the 2026-2027 Season are: Concert Choir (advanced), Pop Hits Choir (beginner-intermediate), the Pope John XXIII School Choir (grades 2-8) and Story Choir (grades 1-5). You can read more about each Choir here.
Registration is now closed for Fall Semester 2026. We will soon be registering new singers for Winter/Spring Semester 2027, which begins in January. For more information about any of our programs, or to schedule a Concert Choir audition for Winter/Spring Semester 2027, email Artistic Director Gary Geiger or call (847) 733-0814. You may also find our Join Us page helpful.
The Evanston Children’s Choir has received the Mayor’s Award for the Arts.
Leslie Keros
Well done! I’m glad you’re challenging the kids. It’s amazing what they’re capable of.
Kathy Byron
You will be blown away by the Children’s Choir! What a wonderful, positive experience for boys and girls. It really raises self-esteem. My daughter is obtaining a love for music, exposure to many diverse musical styles, the great satisfaction of being part of a successful group…one voice contributing to make beautiful music.
Angela Allyn
The choir has been such a fabulous experience for Tess. She has grown so much through working with you.
Natalie Rahn
Thanks for a great first time choir experience. The kids are loving it.
Barb Lester
Thank you again for your philosophy of your program. It is all so human, full of grace, respect, and brilliance.
Alisa Shapiro-Rosenberg
Practices are intense, as the material is difficult, but clearly they are very satisfying, as your singers look happy, confident and engaged. Singing beautifully in at least 4 languages? No problem!
Cecilia Lindstrom
My kids are have a fantastic time singing in the [Evanston] Children’s Choir. They love singing songs from various cultures in a group that reflects Evanston’s wonderful diversity.
Jeff Stitely
Our family was invited to see the ECC by a friend in the choir. My jaw dropped. To hear kids from their teens to as young as 7 singing complex rhythms and harmony in multiple languages blew me away. I was so moved and so was my son, and we signed him up to audition right away.
Melanie Gonzalez
I am so impressed with the [Evanston] Children’s Choir and its enthusiastic director. My son was reluctant to begin and Gary has made him feel very comfortable and enjoy himself and best of all, sing well! It has been a joy to be a part of the choir family these last few years.
Shay Craig
The choir is comprised of public, private and homeschooled children and that diversity of experience has been very enriching for my daughter.
Anna Blackburn
What you do really lifts the community in so many ways. I’m deeply grateful for you and your work.
Jeanne Kerl
I am impressed with the energy of the directors and the kids in the choir. My daughter comes home totally invigorated.
Patricia Perez
ECC has developed my daughter’s passion for singing! We applaud the fun and developmentally-appropriate way in which cultural sensitivity, self-expression, and sense of community is incorporated into the choirs. We have now joined a new family!
Susanne Gilbert
The kids, and specifically our Elle, really enjoy your program and how you instruct them.
Kathryn Crabb Scherer
The Evanston Children’s Choir provided me with a place to hone my teaching skills in a supportive environment in which every person is valued and appreciated. The children are given boundless opportunity, and as a result, they accept the challenge and achieve high levels of success, having a blast the whole time.
Larry Eckerling
The ECC is a cultural treasure to Evanston.
Rick Ferguson
The Evanston Children’s Choir reflects the very best of what Evanston is all about: Quality, celebrating diversity in all its many forms, commitment to an artistic vision of inclusion and beauty. The ECC choirs have established themselves as mainstays of the Evanston musical landscape. Bravo!
Dr. Rollo A. Dilworth
Your work is wonderful!
Julia Davids
The Evanston Children’s Choir is a wonderful organization. Especially during these times of reduced school choral programs, the training they offer their singers is invaluable. Gary Geiger is a passionate advocate for high-quality music in the lives of young people. Our audiences always enjoy hearing their committed performances of exciting repertoire.