Photo By Michael AlexanderThe youth take their turn at making a joyful noise
By Michael Alexander, Staff Photographer | Published January 24, 2014
As I was covering the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Eucharistic Celebration, Jan. 17, the most visible addition to this year’s liturgy was the presence of a children’s choir.
The 45-member choir, under the direction of Stephen Lee, was comprised of youngsters age 3 to 17 from various archdiocesan parishes. They had five Saturday afternoon rehearsals and a Friday evening one starting last November. The one and a half hour rehearsals took place at Lyke House, the Catholic Center at Atlanta University.
“Rehearsals were activity-based, exploring music fundamentals and introducing liturgical formation, that is, knowledge of the musical parts of the Mass and how each part supports ritual action,” said Lee.
Three-year-old Toritsé Edun only stands three feet, two inches, but he stood tall when it came to singing with fellow children choir members during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Eucharistic Celebration. Photo By Michael Alexander
All Saturday rehearsals ended with bag lunches and fellowship. The Friday rehearsal ended with a pizza party.
One of the choir members immediately caught my attention, because at three feet, two inches tall and 37 pounds, he was small in stature, but big in terms of sound and its projection. Yes, three-year-old Toritsé Edun, a pre-K student at St. Peter Claver Regional School, sang with passion and enthusiasm. Edun likes singing, but he also loves books and collecting trains. So far he hasn’t charted his career path, but his mother Rolonda says ‘he wants to grow up and be the man of the house like his dad.’
See Andrew Nelson’s story about the Martin Luther King Jr. Eucharistic Celebration in the Jan. 23 issue of The Georgia Bulletin.
Comments are closed.