About

What is Vocal for Change?

Due to hard economic times, schools nationwide are being forced to cut back on spending in certain departments. Despite their importance, music and the arts are some of the first programs school administrators remove from the curriculum.

Music is both invigorating and relaxing for students after a week of hard work. Students should have the ability to participate in the arts if they want to. So how can we still give these students exposure to music in a cost-efficient way?

Welcome to Vocal for Change, the first self-sustaining, coed a cappella group for middle school students in the greater New Haven area.

A cappella is a type of singing group that has no instrumental accompaniment. A cappella only requires your energy and your voice, making it a fun, friendly way to introduce students into the world of music. Unlike buying an instrument or athletic equipment, it doesn’t cost a cent to sing your heart out!

Our mission:

Vocal for Change seeks to bring middle school students into the world of music and performance. We introduce students, many of whom do not have a great deal of musical background, to the benefits of singing a cappella. A capella teaches the basic skills of music reading, solo and group performing, while offering singers a close community to be a part of.  A cappella arrangements vary from popular music you’ll hear on the radio to classic rock, jazz, and R&B, exposing students to various genres. A cappella is very popular on college campuses but is less known among elementary and high school students.

Although our headquarters are based in New Haven, the birthplace of a cappella, we encourage students and teachers nationwide to pick up on the a cappella movement. If you’re someone who loves to sing and to lead, then, please, start a singing group and bring a cappella into your community!

How it got started:

Phoebe came up with the idea to form Vocal for Change after spending the fall semester of her junior year at The School for Ethics and Global Leadership. One of SEGL’s projects was to create a non-profit organization that would better the community she would be returning to. Given Phoebe’s extensive singing experience and her inability to ever stop singing, a cappella was an obvious choice. Phoebe received grant funding for Vocal for Change after presenting her ideas to Ashoka, the largest, social entrepreneurship organization that supports the startup of businesses and non-profit organizations.

Phoebe returned home to supportive, enthusiastic family, friends, and teachers who have all done tremendous work to help launch and support the first group in the summer of 2010. With the help of teachers and volunteers, fifteen kids at Breakthrough New Haven formed the first Vocal for Change group. We are so grateful to those students and teachers at Breakthrough New Haven who helped pioneer this moment.

How to get involved:

Vocal for Change is still in its startup process. We are beginning to recruit new members for the 2010-11 school year.

If you’re in middle school and are interested in joining, or you just have any questions, please send us an email. If you think you’d want to get your school involved, speak with your school’s administrator about working with Vocal for Change. There’s no limit to how many people can be a part of Vocal for Change!