Last Tuesday, the downstairs of Below Zero Lounge hosted the first performance by the newly formed Young Professional’s Choral Collective (YPCC).
KellyAnn Nelson and her husband Christopher Eanes formed the YPCC after talking to friends about their love of choral music, but lack of interest in attending concerts.
“There’s a disconnect somewhere,” Nelson says. “People used to perform in high school or college for social reasons, so we decided to try to recreate that.”
In November, Nelson and Eanes started recruiting and thought they could find around 20 people to form a choir and a practice space with a piano nearby. That’s when Nelson met Nigel, the owner of Below Zero. Nigel allowed the newly formed choir to use the club space, along with a hollowed out piano that houses a keyboard, all for free. The YPCC held two open practices in November to see how much interest they could garner. The results were more than Nelson and Eanes had hoped. Now with more than 60 members, the YPCC did Caroling in the Quarter, performed their first concert to around 200 people at Below Zero and already have another performance scheduled at Memorial Hall, May 22.
With only six rehearsals before the first performance, Nelson and Eanes didn’t know what to expect, but the event went off without a hitch. More than 150 people made reservations to attend.
“It was this little idea we had,” Nelson says. “Now it’s really happening and we have some momentum.”
The YPCC has received attention for its unique structure, so Nelson and Eanes want to find unique venues to perform and different organizations open to collaboration. Because of busy work and social schedules, the YPCC features different singers in each performance.
“We need our experiences to be unique,” Nelson says. “We want it to be something that draws new listeners in but still connects to old music fans.”
By Evan Wallis
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