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Hernando Today

A Community Choir For Kids

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: March 14, 2009

SPRING HILL - If schools are unable to save their music programs, students will still have an outlet for their love of singing.

They have David Pletincks to thank for that.

The choral director at Powell Middle School wanted the community to have a program for children similar to the Nature Coast Festival Singers.

The closest such programs were in Tampa, and many parents were complaining about the long commutes to practices and performances.

Last fall, he and his wife formed the Nature Coast Children's Chorale. The 33-member group has singers as young as second grade and others who are in high school.

"I'm looking to grow the group quite a bit," Pletincks said.

He already has a performance booked for February 2010 at Carnegie Hall in New York. He hopes to double the size of the chorale by then, he said.

"That's really cool," 13-year-old member Anna Roberts said of the upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall. "That's where the Jonas Brothers have been."

So have the Beatles, Benny Goodman and Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Her younger sister laughed. Emma Roberts, who is 11, also sings with the chorale.

The home-schooled students see the group as a way to get out of the house and socialize with others their age. Both of them will attend public school next fall.

"Emma absolutely loves it," said her mother, Deb Roberts. "Every time she comes home from practice, she has a new e-mail address. She always has a new friend."

The two of them have been singing all their lives. They like everything from contemporary to traditional songs. If the song is in a foreign language, they will gladly rehearse it until they know it by heart.

"It's really important to me," said Emma. "I really enjoy it."

The energetic girls wanted more activities. Their mother liked everything she heard about the chorale. Pletincks has not disappointed her.

"It means a lot to me that they're doing this," she said. "I'm happy they're involved in something that involves good, quality music."

Seven shows are scheduled through April, including performances at local churches and at Stage West.

Pletincks also has made plans to perform with a community children's choir in Jacksonville, he said.

The chorale will be joined in their upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall by a mass adult choir and an orchestra from Germany.

"Basically, we're a musical version of your traveling soccer team," he said. "Just like you have all-star baseball teams and AAU basketball teams ... this is a community of star singers."

All of the county's all-state singers at the elementary- and middle-school levels are members of the group, including Pletincks' daughter and son, he said.

The Nature Coast Children's Chorale will perform three upcoming shows with the Nature Coast Festival Singers.

Their first performance is at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 15, at Nativity Lutheran Church in Weeki Wachee.

For more information, visit the chorale's Web site at http://naturecoastchildrenschorale.org.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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