What do these Mercer Island neighbors have in common? They all love to sing!

 

For Cooper and Jim, that journey began in elementary school with the Northwest Boychoir. This nonprofit after-school program has provided classical boychoir training and performance opportunities throughout the Greater Puget Sound region and around the world for more than 50 years. The organization has a long tradition of collaborating with the Seattle Symphony, has recorded multiple movie and video game soundtracks, and has even received a Grammy nomination.

 

For Fina and Hailey, the journey started a few years later in middle school through Vocalpoint Foundations. This two-year program for girls focuses on vocal, rhythmic, musical literacy, and performance development, preparing participants to join the mixed-voice high school ensemble, Vocalpoint! Seattle.

 

Since graduating out of the Boychoir and into Vocalpoint, Cooper and Jim have continued to build on the foundations of music literacy and vocal training by learning to analyze music and emulate the greats of rock, pop, soul, and jazz.  Jim remembers his start with Vocalpoint: “I sang ‘Rosalita’ as a Sophomore and was paired with three Seniors. I got so much support from those older guys. They really helped me analyze artistic choices and step up my game.”

 

Hailey and Fina’s experiences have been similar, learning not only to sing but to analyze what makes a recording great. “I learn to listen for the artistic decisions and details that make a particular artists’ sound unique and then try to apply similar techniques myself,” says Hailey, “there’s so much to learn through that process.”

 

Every December, these students of rock, pop, and jazz pivot back to their classical choral roots with A Festival of Lessons & Carols, a 9-performance series offered across Greater Seattle and the Eastside. This series draws thousands of patrons every year - many make it an annual tradition - with the final performance presented by the Seattle Symphony.

 

Some alumni have gone on to Broadway and Grammy-winning careers, while others have chosen professions outside of music, but they consistently say the same thing: that choir helped them develop not only as singers but as individuals who have the confidence and skills to identify and pursue world-class standards. As one recent Vocalpoint alumnus wrote in her college application essay, “Our director has an unwavering commitment to professional standards. Through learning to accept and value his critique as belief in my potential to be great, rather than as testament to failure. I have not only developed as a singer, I have become a stronger, more resilient, humble, yet more confident individual overall.”

 

At the heart of the Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle are the friendships that form through years of carpooling, rehearsing, performing, and touring together. The group uses the slogan “serious fun” and that’s just what it is. As Jim says, “I’ve known so many of these guys since elementary school, and our work in Vocalpoint (high school) has brought us so much closer. I look forward to being with those guys every week; we’re pretty much like family.”

 

 

Over the course of 52 years, Northwest Choirs, comprised of the Northwest Boychoir and Vocalpoint! Seattle, has grown into one of the nation’s premier youth choral organizations,  enriching the lives of students, artists, and audiences throughout Seattle and beyond.

Northwest Choirs challenges and equips students to grow as individuals through the pursuit of musical excellence. From classical to classic rock, we offer a world-class music education, performance opportunities, and a platform for meaningful growth.

 

In 2025, the organization offered students year-round after-school musical instruction at nine program levels, week-long summer camps, and 46 performance opportunities, reaching an audience of over 12,000.

 

--A current parent