Maggie McClellan & the Phinney Neighborhood Chorus

Maggie McClellan is the director of the Phinney Neighborhood Chorus in Seattle, Washington. She met members of EFP’s board at an international development conference in Orlando several years ago and became very interested our the work in Pichon The Phinney Chorus 2004 fund-raising concert for Lekol Pa Nou raised more than $1,000. Their June 5, 2005 concert for the school raised a total of $2,215! Maggie reported that “Both my adult chorus and my small children’s chorus participated. We talked about Pichon a bit, and one of the singers made a really lovely display with some maps, some photos and some text. We counted our donations during the reception (like we did last year) so we could announce the total, which came to over $2100, (there will be a few more coming by mail).”

Regarding the chorus, "The goal is self-expression” Maggie says, “a sense of unity with each other and, through experiencing music from other cultures, with people all over the world." Indeed, in the spirit of inclusiveness, there are no try-outs for the Phinney chorus. McClellan emphasizes that, to a large extent, learning to sing is a process of unlearning shyness. "I have to trick everybody into having a lot of fun. I make them laugh, entertain them, get their mind off being self-conscious."

Maggie and the Phinney Neighborhood Chorus have certainly used their “self expression” to create a “sense of unity” with students at Lekol Pa Nou. A hearty thank you to them and their supporters. Check out their website at: www.phinneychorus.org