Les Petits Chanteurs | Concert preview

Les Petits Chanteurs

Haiti’s 30-piece youth choir Les Petits Chanteurs (“The Little Singers”) was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary in early 2010 when tragedy struck in the form of a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. More than 300,000 lives were lost to the disaster, including four choir members. Since then, the Port-au-Prince ensemble has been touring to raise funds for the reconstruction of its home base, the Holy Trinity Music School.

This weekend, two Chicago churches host the vibrant choir of boys and a string section from the Holy Trinity Philharmonic Orchestra in a pair of benefit concerts. The Rev. Peter Lane of Hyde Park’s Church of St. Paul and the Redeemer traveled to Haiti in January and met with Les Petits conductor David César to arrange the performances.

Partnering with St. Chrysostom’s Episcopal Church downtown, St. Paul and the Redeemer joins a list of some 90 churches across the country that have been filled with the choir’s prismatic programs of Haitian music. Donations will be accepted, but for St. Chrysostom volunteer Phoebe DePree, these events are about more than charity: “We are excited to meet these talented young singers not only to hear their voices in song, but also to hear their voices of experience.”