Back then, kids played loud music to piss their parents off — and grunge, punk, hardcore and hip-hop really did the trick effortlessly. Fast-forward a few decades, and young hopefuls now have every opportunity imaginable to fulfill their musical prodigy fantasies with their parents' consent and encouragement. Besides the obvious choice of arts magnet mainstay Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and private lessons through places such as School of Rock and Zound Sounds School of Music, now Dallas kids with an interest in choral music have a great after-school program to join. Even better, the program travels, tours internationally and affords its advanced students an opportunity to record at the famed Abbey Road Studios in London.
The nonprofit National Children’s Chorus is the brainchild of Luke McEndarfer, a 45-year-old Grammy Award-winning conductor, musician, artistic director and educator who began his own musical journey learning the piano at the age of 6. He turned his passion for music into his life’s work, eventually receiving a masters degree in conducting from UCLA after completing his undergraduate degree in literature. For him, learning music was not just a way to spend his free time — it was a way of life.
“I consider music a powerful medium to teach life skills,” McEndarfer says. “It also builds confidence, good character and and open mind.”
In 2004, McEndarfer became artistic director of a children’s program called the Paulist Choristers of California. Within a few years of successfully running the program he decided it was time for a dramatic change. McEndarfer transformed the Choristers into the National Children’s Chorus in 2009 and opened a new chapter in New York City, where he relocated. Under a new name and new direction, he grew the academy substantially, providing musical lessons and opportunities for children of all ages. He credits the academy’s success to both the mission and the culture the students help cultivate.
“We needed a complete shift. so I moved to New York and restructured the whole program,” McEndarfer says. “In 2010, my first rehearsal had four students and now we have over 360. I was also the only employee, and now there are over 100.”
More than a decade later, the National Children’s Chorus has expanded substantially. After opening a bustling Austin chapter in 2020, McEndarfer and his team saw Dallas as the next bit of fruit ripe for the picking. In September 2022, the academy made Dallas its eighth market, giving North Texas kids an opportunity to join in on the choral fun.
“Dallas is a very important point of access for youth in Texas,” McEndarfer says. “I have a lot of friends in Dallas, and it has such a rich cultural landscape; it seemed obvious we should open there. We know that family, music and culture are very important to Dallas, and our organization meets the needs and wants of our families there.”
The Dallas chapter accepts children ages 5–18 and offers seven different levels of education, including an advanced traveling class. The group meets for practice at First United Methodist Church in Preston Hollow and is holding auditions for the 2024 season through its website.
Within just a year, the Dallas chapter of the National Children’s Chorus has already made an impression with McEndarfer and is quickly growing. Every single advanced student of the Dallas chapter made the last traveling tour and had an opportunity to record at Abbey Road. The tour also passed through Scotland and Wales, giving young students their first opportunities for international travel and invaluable life skills. As a nonprofit, the National Children’s Chorus provides a robust scholarship program to help ensure every child can participate in these once-in-a-lifetime endeavors, something on which McEndarfer prides himself.
“In 2010, my first rehearsal had four students and now we have over 360. I was also the only employee, and now there are over 100.” – Luke McEndarfer, National Children's Chorus founder
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“We spent three days recording at Abbey Road Studios and were able to complete a 16-track album,” he says. “It was very inspiring for us to be there and a miracle we finished the whole thing.”
Now that the academy has expanded with schools in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Boston, Austin and Dallas, McEndarfer finds himself racking up a substantial amount of frequent flyer miles as he tends to each chapter of the academy with care and mindful direction.
“I make visits to all of the chapters and travel over 300,000 miles a year seeing all of my schools,” McEndarfer says.
Although the academy mainly focuses on teaching classical music and contemporary music by The Beatles, modern composers such as Nico Muhly, Eric Whitacre and Sarah Quartel are commissioned by McEndarfer to add another layer to the cultural imprint the school helps sustain.
“We commission a diverse array of composers to write modern classic pieces,” McEndarfer says. “Musical selections are eclectic and vary from classical to modern with a variety of genres covered.”
As 2024 marks McEndarfer’s 20th anniversary with the program, he acts now as both artistic director and CEO of the National Children’s Chorus, and he couldn’t be more proud of what his students have been able to accomplish. In 2022, the National Children’s Chorus won a Grammy in the category of Best Choral Performance for a piece in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This distinction puts the National Children’s Chorus several heads above the typical after-school music program, but ultimately McEndarfer seems more interested in the life experience and skills that his students take away after being part of the chorus.
“We feel we add something no other program does, and we are excited to be here in Dallas accepting applications for next year’s program,” McEndarfer says.
