Married choir teachers launch new community children’s choir

Corbin and Jenna Rasmussen with their four children. | Courtesy East Idaho Youth Chorus
RIGBY – When Rigby Middle School removed their choir program, a local couple decided to take matters into their own hands.
Corbin and Jenna Rasmussen are choral educators and are launching East Idaho Youth Chorus, a community choir program for elementary and middle school-aged kids.
Due to state-wide budget cuts, Rigby Middle School removed their choral program in May. Disappointed by the news, the Rasmussens had the idea to start their own program.
“We wanted to give them an opportunity to continue to have good choral education, since they couldn’t get it from the school anymore,” Corbin said.
The Rasmussens both have degrees in music education. Jenna directed the Rigby Middle School choirs from 2014 to 2018 and Corbin is the current choir and handbell director at Rigby High School.
The Rasmussens feel that music is often overlooked in education, but they say it’s vital.
“People experience music as part of their everyday lives even if they don’t realize it,” Corbin said. “Music is in worship, entertainment, media – music is everywhere. Music is an essential part of the educational process since it’s an essential part of our everyday lives.”
The couple plans to make music literacy a big focus in their choirs.
“We don’t want students to just come and sing and not really learn anything,” Corbin said. “We want them to come and learn how to read music so that they can someday go into a more advanced high school program and have some background music knowledge.”
East Idaho Youth Chorus is open to students across the southeast Idaho region, not just in Rigby. The Rasmussens offer three choirs. Junior Chorus is designed for second and third graders, Melody Chorus is for fourth and fifth graders and Harmony Chorus is for middle schoolers.
East Idaho Youth Chorus runs two choral seasons per year to align with the school year. A full choral season is four months long and costs $180 per student. All choirs will meet for rehearsals at Rigby High School. The first choral season begins Sept. 12.
To sign up your child for a choir, visit the East Idaho Youth Chorus website.
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Source: eastidahonews.com