It was in 1985 that Shirley Penner started the Youth Singers of Calgary with 28 junior high school students.
Over the last 40 years, the program has countless lives with a goal of leaving a positive impact on singers, their families and the city’s arts community.
Today, Youth Singers has expanded to include 500 singers ranging in age from three-and-a-half to adults.
Jocelyn Jones began singing with the Youth Singers of Calgary in 1986 when she was 12. Now she’s still with the organization as a creative team member.
She says everyone is excited about the 40th anniversary.
“We’re going to be asking our students to reflect on their experiences and maybe give them a little bit of a history lesson.
“Forty years is a long time, so we’ve got a lot to celebrate, and we’ve got a lot to honor that we’ve done over the years.”
Jones says being a member has had a huge impact on her life and shaped her career.
She met her husband at Youth Singers, and says many of her lifelong friends were members at some point.
“Youth Singers of Calgary is family,” she said.
“It’s a second home for a lot of us with close friends, and it’s a community that we all feel very strongly about and that we continue to be a part of because it inspires us and it is a passion that we all have.”
Jones says the philosophy is to work with children who have a drive and an interest in singing – along with a passion for the arts.
However, she says they don’t have to come with a built-in skillset, it’s something the many volunteers can help develop.
“Getting to give kids the same experiences that I had as a young person, and knowing what that meant to me and how it shaped who I am and inspired my career path, I don’t think that would have ever been on my radar as a goal or even an option, if I hadn’t have had those formative experiences at Youth Singers,” said Jones.
Jones’s 12-year-old son is a member of Youth Signers.
He grew up at it’s southeast facility and started singing when he was just three.
“I had always been interested in theater from a very, very young age,” he said.
“I had always gone to shows, I always liked singing and doing fun little dances, so knowing that there was a place that my mom happened to work at that does all of that in a very safe and enjoyable environment was really cool to me – and I’ve just always stuck with it.”
Donovan has been part of many productions and says enjoys his time on stage.
“We’re all able to be friendly with each other, it’s like a really big community or a big family that always sticks together.”
Dianne Trew and her husband became involved with the Youth Singers when her boys were young, now they’re all involved in the Encore program.
“It’s really great when I tell people I belong to Youth Singers of Calgary, they recognize the name, they kind of put their eyebrows up and I say, ‘I did say Youth Singers of Calgary,‘” Trew said.
“The joy of it is just meeting younger people and people who have been in Youth Singers for years.”
Trew’s granddaughters are also members.
Nine-year-old Sachi Fukami says she doesn’t get to sing with her grandma at performances because she’s part of a younger group, but she likes watching her sing.
She also enjoys performing on stage herself.
“It feels a bit nervous, but you’re also really excited, you can’t really see the audience though because the lights are on you,” she said.
Fukami says in her group of singers, she sings the low notes.
“It’s just like half of the room singing one part and the other half of the room singing a different part, and then you kind of put it together and it sounds really good,” she said.
The official launch of the 40th season of Youth Singers of Calgary is on Monday, March 31, the same day when people can register for the school’s 2025-26 season.
The next performance by the Youth Singers will take place at 7 p.m. on May 10 at the the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
