It is with great honor and excitement that I announce the creation of the Carolina Youth Chorale in collaboration with the Carolina Master Chorale. After founding this youth choir in January 2023 under the name the Grand Strand Voices Youth Choir, I cannot express how special it is for us to become family with the CMC.
The Carolina Youth Chorale is the area’s premier youth choir. We are a choir of singers ages 8 through 17 that perform a variety of choral repertoire spanning different genres, languages, and historical periods. We can often be seen traveling throughout the county and surrounding areas to perform. Under our former name, we have performed not only with the Carolina Master Chorale, but also at NASCAR races, Myrtle Beach Pelican baseball games, Atalaya Castle, choral festivals, nursing homes, the Carolina Opry, as well as two visiting opera productions.
Our mission is to provide a safe environment that fosters the love of choral music in our youth as well as spread the joy for choral music and music education throughout our community, both nationally and internationally. Our choir thrives on our relationships with each other, and we are hoping to grow our choir and relationships as we continue to grow in size and skill.
I am excited for what the upcoming year will bring, including many performances throughout the community as well as more performances with our big brothers and sisters in singing, the Carolina Master Chorale. Please keep an eye out for our upcoming performances and auditions both on our website and on Facebook and Instagram. We would love to share our passion for singing with you.
With gratitude,
Sara Morey, Music Director & Conductor
ARTISTIC STAFF
Sara Morey
Music Director and Conductor
Sara Morey is a choral conductor and music teacher from East Marion, NY that holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from Syracuse University. While attending Syracuse University, Ms. Morey worked with the many choirs including the Hendricks Chapel Choir, as well as completed a short residency conducting choirs in Strasbourg, France. After teaching music in the Syracuse City School District for 5 years, Sara began her position as a music teacher for Horry County Schools in South Carolina in 2021. Shortly after, Sara became the founder of the Grand Strand Voices Youth Choir (now the Carolina Youth Chorale) in January 2023 and the Assistant Conductor of the Carolina Master Chorale in August 2023. In addition to those positions, she also held the position of Choir Master for Varna International, where her youth choir was featured in the opera productions of Bizet’s Carmen and Weill’s Street Scene. In her spare time, Sara enjoys walking her dogs on the beach, collecting shark teeth, and reading.
Rhonda Page
Collaborative Pianist
Rhonda Page is a music teacher and pianist originally from Fork, SC. She has an AFA, Music Ed K-12, and a MACE with a church music focus degree. Rhonda is married to Dee and has a 23 year old son named Noah. They have 2 dogs, Malcolm and River Cruz. Rhonda and Dee were in ministry for over 20 years and decided to make the move back home to South Carolina 7 years ago. Rhonda has been teaching music and 4/5th grade chorus for 7 years at Carolina Forest elementary school. Her favorite things are playing the piano, going to the beach, drinking coffee, and walking/exercising. She feels blessed to 'get to' share this God-given gift of music with others.
WHAT OUR MEMBERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE CYC
I enjoy learning a variety of new and different music as well as performing and sharing the gift of music.
-Jordan D
One thing I like about choir is all the memories that you get to make
-Anthony R
I love being part of the choir because I like making new friends and getting better at singing. I love [Ms. Sara] as a teacher. [She’s] fun.
-Kaylee T.
One reason I love singing in this choir is because I sing with people who love singing as much as I do and I love how accepting the environment is something far different than school music class because most students don’t share my passion for music unlike [they do].
-Sam G
I love choir because we get to meet new people and we get to sing at new places. I love how the choir became family. I love Ms. Sara because she teaches us to sing the best that we can.
-Perri R
I love to be in [the] choir because I know and feel comfortable with the people there. I also know no one will make fun of me if I mess up. [Ms. Sara] pushes and encourages me to reach my limits. And additionally to teaching a choir, you also get them experiences to look forward to such as concerts. And last but not least, instead of saying you go from Do to Me on the word “ i” you instead say paint that word till “I” and explain it in a way that helps.
That’s why I love choir so much.
-Hali K
I have been in Ms. Sara's choir for two years. In those two years, I have learned and been taught by Ms. Sara a lot of things about music and ways to improve my singing. It has been a pleasure learning from her and I feel lucky to be a part of the choir. She has created a wonderful learning environment for all of us, and has given us great opportunities to showcase our talent for many people. I never regreted joining her choir. If you love singing and you want to reach your full potential, Ms. Sara will guide you on your journey 100%! Come join the Carolina Youth Chorale!
-Ronyl P