For Medford residents Serena and Ava Estacio-Touhey, singing has been a passion for as long as they can remember.
“They were born singing! As soon as they learned how to talk, they started singing,” their mother Annabelle said.
And it will likely be something they stay involved in well into their futures.
“When I grow up, I don’t directly want to be a singer, but I imagine music will be a part of my life in some way forever,” Serena said.
“I also play alto saxophone, so I think music will always be apart of my life as well,” Ava said.
“It’s definitely a big component of their lives. They are also very into drama, but singing is like the big umbrella that goes around that and ties them into drama,” Estacio-Touhey said.
Serena is 15 years old and sings with the Shawnee High School Choir while Ava is 12 years old and is a part of the Medford Memorial Middle School Singers. They also sing with a cappella groups on the side, but the group they cherish being a part of the most is the ChildrenSong of New Jersey Chorus.
ChildrenSong of New Jersey was founded by Polly Murray as a choral music education and performance program based in Haddonfield.
Established in 2000, the program serves 75 children in four choirs between the ages of 8 and 18 from Camden, Burlington and Gloucester counties. The organization provides quality music instruction with the goal of attaining the highest level of artistic excellence in choral music performance.
The chorus attempts to enrich the lives of children from all religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds. A special effort is made to serve children who have limited opportunities for such experiences due to the circumstances of their schooling.
The girls have fallen in love with this group over the years and now describe the unit as “family.”
“I enjoy learning music in the positive environment with lots of friends,” Serena said.
Serena has grown up with this group as she has been involved with ChildrenSong for eight years. Her little sister Ava has been in the group for five years and has learned to value the remaining time she gets with the older kids.
“I’ve looked up to the older kids and learned to enjoy the time I spend with them before they graduate,” Ava said.
Whether it’s playing around while stuck in an elevator or auditioning for the world famous “America’s Got Talent” television show, the girls always seem to have a memorable time when they go on trips with this group.
ChildrenSong gets involved in local happenings such as weddings, trips to the Voorhees Pediatric Facility and Yardley Commons Retirement Home, and it also gets involved in further trips such as the workshop it did last year with the Western Wind Ensemble from New York when it visited Smith College in Massachusetts and performed at different venues in the area.
In addition to these trips, it hosts a spring concert and a winter concert each year.
ChildrenSong of New Jersey is preparing to sing at the “Celebrate Peace for UN70” concert commemorating the 70th anniversary of the United Nations.
The group will be performing “Planet Earth” conducted by world-renowned composer Johan de Meij of “The Lord of the Rings” Symphony and a few of their own selections.
The concert will take place at the Kimmel Center on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 3 p.m.
A venue of this stature would typically provide some stage fright for a group this young, but they’ve performed at the Kimmel Center before at the first and second editions of this concert.
It also hosted last year’s winter concert at Carnegie Hall, so the group has learned to embrace the bright lights.
Nonetheless, the members still appreciate the opportunity at hand.
“I’m excited for the experience of it. Just being with my friends and being able to perform at a venue where so many other great artists have been,” Serena said.
The group has gotten together every Monday night and once a month on Saturdays to rehearse for this show to ensure it is one you won’t want to miss.
Tickets are available through the Kimmel Center for this event at www.kimmelcenter.org/events/?id=5447.
