Children’s choir program expands to serve Queen Creek, San Tan Valley

Chandler Children’s Choir is expanding its reach in the East Valley with the launch of the San Tan Children’s Choir, a new branch designed to bring high-quality choral music education to families in the San Tan Valley and Queen Creek areas.

Founded in 2008 by Artistic Director Aimee Stewart, Chandler Children’s Choir has grown into one of the East Valley’s top youth choral organizations, serving more than 150 singers ages 7-18 through multiple ensembles, performances across the Valley, tour, and summer music experiences, according to a press release.

The new San Tan Children’s Choir reflects the organization’s continued commitment to its motto, “Every Voice Counts.”

“We believe every child deserves access to meaningful music education and a place where they feel seen, valued and inspired,” Stewart stated in the release. “As our organization has grown, we recognized a need to better serve families further east in our community. The San Tan Children’s Choir allows us to bring those opportunities closer to home for many families.”

The expansion comes during a season of growth for the organization, which also recently announced the launch of “Vox Anima,” a new mixed-voices ensemble for high school singers.

Like the main Chandler Children’s Choir program, the San Tan branch will focus on vocal education, music literacy, performance opportunities and community-building through choral music. The organization emphasizes artistic excellence while fostering confidence, creativity, teamwork and belonging among young singers, the press release continued.

The San Tan Children’s Choir will be directed by two experienced music educators and choral directors, Cecelia Burnett and Emali Mollenhauer, who bring extensive backgrounds in vocal music education and youth mentorship to the program.

Burnett has a music degree from California State University, Fullerton, where she sang in a choir that collaborated with the Boston Pops, John Williams and Andrea Boccelli. She has sung with the Sonoran Desert Chorale and is currently the assistant director of the Benjamin Franklin High School ensemble.

Mollenhauer, who has more than 25 years of experience in music education, has a background that includes private voice instruction, early childhood music education, public school teaching, and directing choir, drama and digital music production programs. She holds a bachelor’s degree in music education with a vocal emphasis from Northern Arizona University and recently completed a master’s degree in music education at Southern Utah University.

Rehearsals will be held at Newell Barney Jr. High, 24937 S. Sossaman Road in Queen Creek on Tuesday evenings beginning in August.

For more information about the San Tan Children’s Choir's auditions and enrollment, visit San Tan Children’s Choir information.