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1. 1 2023-06-14T10:36:18-07:00 Beth South 9cba9d75a82488a4e4c1af1d58b23357ce6b4889 "All things bright and beautiful" Alisa Clapp-Itnyre 9 gallery 2026-07-06T13:29:21-07:00 Alisa Clapp-Itnyre d22bb56f3c8ebb3d7e0537bc1b85da2502038efe

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• 1 media/2017 camp arch sepia.JPG 2023-06-12T10:24:53-07:00 SOUNDING CHILDHOOD by Alisa Clapp-Itnyre 72 image_header 2024-06-21T13:26:42-07:00

  Welcome to SOUNDING CHILDHOOD!

  A website devoted to children's 19th-century music
  
  This is an academic website stemming from my research and publications focused on Victorian children's music.  Children were just as musical as adults during the 19th century, but little has been done to explore their music.  Neither was there the capability or interest in recording nineteenth-century children's songs or their singing.
  
  This website attempts to fill this musical void.  As part of the Sounding Victorian collective (est. Dr. Phyllis Weliver, 2016) and in collaboration with colleagues at my institution, Indiana University East, in Richmond, Indiana, I have organized biannual, local children's choir-camps since 2015 to learn and record popular 19th-century songs for children (much of it specifically from the Victorian era, 1837-1901) so that we can hear what children over 100 years ago were singing.  This music for Victorian children was quite diverse. Some of it was used for play (taught by adults, adapted by children, like nursery rhymes and folksongs), much of it was taught in church and school (hymns and school songs), by the end of the century, Christmas carols were sung extensively during the holiday, and some songs were even written and used politically, like those for the animal-rights movement (Bands of Mercy songs).
  
  The site is organized into FIVE parts based on those musical genres we have recorded, biannually, to date: children's hymns (recorded in 2015), children's school and play songs (recorded in 2017), Bands of Mercy songs (recorded in 2019), Christmas carols (recorded in 2023, with a skipped year due to COVID), and now folksongs (2024).  Click the title links below which will take you to information, scores, pictures, & musical recordings within each of these genres.  The Menu (upper left) will navigate to them as well and the lists of songs appear to the right.  I especially thank Jessica Raposo, Director of Music, for co-leading the first three camps with me, and Beth South, Assistant Librarian, Indiana University East, for rebuilding this scalar-based website in summer 2023.
  
  I hope you will enjoy this re-created musical experience, which will allow you to experience the sounds of childhood from another era.  As you see by the pictures, even our contemporary children relish re-visiting the Victorian past: feigning photographic seriousness, dressing in period clothes, and of course singing these engaging songs! 
  
  Dr. Alisa Clapp-Itnyre
  Professor of English
  Indiana University East
  Richmond, IN
  aclappit@iu.edu 
  
   

  Part 1: Hymns & Religious Songs  (Click here)

  Part 2: Songs for School & Play (Click here)

  Part 3: Animal Welfare (Bands of Mercy) Songs  (Click here)

  Part 4: Christmas Carols  (Click here)

  Part 5: Folk Songs. (Click here)

  
   

  
  PERMISSIONS
  All images and recordings are made with children's and parents' permission; see individual pages for complete listing of names.
  All material used from this website must credit me, the author, and name the site.  For more, see Copyright details.
   

• 1 2026-06-28T19:50:46-07:00 The Community Choristers 14 plain 2026-07-05T22:10:10-07:00

  The Community Choristers

  The Community Choristers is a new children's choir in Richmond, Indiana, established in 2024 by Alisa Clapp-Itnyre, as a free, non-auditioned choir for singers 1st grade through high school in the Richmond area.  We sing 3 major choir-series (Spring, Fall, Christmas) and 2 smaller camps (Winter/Valentines; and Patriotic/Hymn), as a hop-on/hop-off choir to sing whenever one is available and interested. We meet at Central United Methodist Church, Richmond. To date, we have had over 150 singers, 30-40 singers in each choir-series.  We hold our own concerts but also sing for various local senior facilities, holiday open houses, pre-show for the local symphony, and the Wayne County Fair!
  
  It has, to date, been funded by Kiwanis grants, the philanthropy of Ann Howard and Mike Henry, and various other donations.  It is supported by the Boys & Girls Club of Wayne County, the Richmond Civic Theatre, and Central United Methodist Church.
  
  Much of what we sing, that is older and past copyright, is put on this website for educational, historical purposes.
  
  ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE 2024 AND BEYOND WAS RECORDED BY THE COMMUNITY CHORISTERS CHILDREN'S CHOIR.
  
  Join us if you live in the area!
  Contact Alisa Clapp-Itnyre at aclappit@iu.edu 
   

  Our First Choir-Series:

  The first Chorister choir practiced on Wednesdays for about 8 weeks and had a Spring 2024 Concert all at Central United Methodist Church, Richmond (pictured here). We sang a Folk Song Suite and other popular songs (see the Program to the right and our soloists, listed there).  Some singers sang at the church's service, then we sang at the Leland Legacy for its senior residents on May.
  
  The Choristers have continued through 2026 and you can hear our older songs (that were written before 1900) throughout this website. We sing more contemporary songs, too, that range from classic-pop to Disney to Broadway classics. Our signature song is "Let's Go Fly a Kite"! And our Christmas Carol choirs are very popular!
  
  INAUGERAL SINGERS, Spring 2024: 
  (alphabetical) Andrei Aurea, Amira Baker, Vivian Beckerich*, Anna Berfield*, Allistair Berfield*, Arianna Boehme, Aryanna Bonds, Emma Bowman, Charlie Christian, Madeleine Edwards*, Molly Fuller-McCreery, Matilda Fuller-McCreery, Amaya Gray, Amari Gray, Jocelyn Gray, Alice Kostiuk, Aderyn Lemons, Hannah Mooney*, Grace Parshall*, Sophia Quiroz, Quinn Richwine, Aubree Rohrer, Sophia Royer, Greta Royer*, Lily & Hope Royer*, Sam Royer*, Ayrabelle Smith, Sadie Southerland, Topanga Stingley*, Josiah Weesner*, Jesse Weesner*, Stella West*.
  *still with the choir (2026) 
  
  LEADERS:
  Alisa Clapp-Itnyre, director
  Greta Royer, assistant director of the "Chorister Kids" (2025-present)
  Aja Haley Smith, assistant (2024-25)
  Vickie Martin, assistant (2024-25)
  Jill Schweitzer (2025-present)
  Shiyu Wang, pianist (2024)
  Lisa Ginn, substitute pianist (2026-)
  
  RECORDINGS:
  Ron Itnyre, recording engineer
  Location: Central United Methodist Church, Richmond, IN

   

  List of Concert-Series, so far!

  You can see songs and names of singers on the PROGRAMS to the right.  Pictures for all concerts will be featured throughout this website: Spring Choir pictures are mostly in Folksongs; Fall 2025 is in Bands of Mercy; and Christmas Choirs are in...Christmas Carols!

  2024:

  Spring Concert: "Spring and Colors of the Wind" (above)

  • Fall Concert: “Seasons, Self-Worth, and Doing Right"

  • Christmas Carols: Old and New

  
  2025:

  Spring Concert: "May & Mother-Love Through the Ages"

  • Hymn Camp #1: here 

  • Fall Concert: Bands of Mercy, here

  • Christmas Carols: Old & New, for Parades & Open Houses!

  
  2026:

  Winter/Valentine's Small Choir

  • Spring Concert: "Celebrating May, Sunshine, Mothers, and Love" 

  • Hymn Camp #2: here