Children's Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh

The Children’s Festival Chorus of Pittsburgh (CFC) is one of the premier children’s choral ensembles in the country. It is now in its 27th year of providing superior choral education and performance opportunities to children while delivering professional-level performances to audiences.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Christine Jordanoff (professor of Music Education and Director of Choral Organizations at Duquesne University), associate conductor Elaine Goldsmith and assistant conductor Lisa Jaworowski, CFC educates and nurtures talented young singers to find their vocal instruments and to express themselves through song.

The singers of the Children’s Festival Chorus range in age from 8 to 15. “This world class ensemble” (Pittsburgh Post Gazette), representing many cultures, races, and socio-economic backgrounds, delights audiences with its versatile range of singing styles. The choristers have mastered challenging repertoire sung from memory in over 25 languages.

The Children’s Festival Chorus has performance relationships with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Pittsburgh Symphony Pops, the Pittsburgh Opera, the Mendelssohn Choir and the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, among others. The Chorus has performed with prominent artists such as Marvin Hamlisch, the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble, the New York Voices, Elisabeth von Trapp, the Drakensberg Boys Choir of South Africa, folksingers Ann & Will Schmid, and jazz vocalist Kim Nazarian.

The Children’s Festival Chorus receives invitations to appear at prestigious conferences and festivals both nationally and internationally, and contributes to our communities through the choral education program, outreach programs and community performances.

The Chorus has been featured on WQED-TV, KDKA-TV, WTAE-TV, WPXI, various radio stations, and has been heard internationally on “Voice of America”. They have recorded three compact discs to date: Ten Years in Harmony, A Children’s Classic Christmas and A Children’s Festival of Song.

As an ensemble in residence at Duquesne University, the Children’s Festival Chorus provides a “living laboratory” for Music Education majors… our future teachers. With the possibility of subsequent passage into the Junior Mendelssohn and Mendelssohn Choir, the children are a vital link in the choral education concept called TRIAD.

"CFC has been an awesome journey for me... Working with other singers for the same goal was an amazing experience... Singing will always be a vital part of my life"
Jessica Benham