PHOENIX — A local children’s choir is looking for a new home after their host church voted to close its doors for good this Sunday.
The Phoenix Children’s Chorus is used to performing at big venues, but one church is where home is.
“I’m very sad because I’ve had a lot of memories of this place and it’s just been amazing here,” said Harper Bazinet, a young chorister.
Central United Methodist Church, located near Central Avenue and McDowell Road, generously opened its reception space for the choir to practice.
But in late April, due to declining membership, the church voted to shut down, leaving the young choristers with nowhere to go.
“We had just negotiated a three-year lease. And a couple of weeks later, the pastor called and said unfortunately the church isn’t going to make it,” said Troy Meeker, the artistic director at PCC.
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“For a lot of kids this is kind of their safe space, this is an outlet for them that they don’t normally get to do elsewhere, especially in schools as arts programs are starting to dwindle a little bit,” said Jennifer Howe, the choir manager at PCC.
PCC has been around for 40 years now. It started with 30 children; now it is over 350. They outgrew their spaces at the Phoenix Center for the Arts and moved into the church just this year.
Now, they are looking for a new place to hit that high note and sing the melodies that have made them all close.
“It’s really just grown into a place that we look forward to going to every week. It’s become people that we see outside of rehearsals, you know, friends that we’ve made,” said Abby Bazinet, a mom and PCC volunteer.
“Choir is something you can’t do by yourself, you have to be a part of something bigger than yourself to be successful,” said Meeker.
