Introduction to MECCA

Since 1987, the East Tennessee Children's Choir has provided the children of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia with a unique music and cultural educational experience.  In 2005 the ETCC board of directors moved to increase the organization's outreach with the formation of the Mountain Empire Children's Choral Academy. The ETCC was chartered 20 years ago as a non-profit organization in Tennessee by Dr. Carl King, a professor at East Tennessee State University.  In 2003, the ETCC spun off a senior high school-age choir, the Highlands Youth Ensemble, under the direction of former Artistic Director, Beth P. McCoy. Current Artistic Director, Jane DeLoach Morison, started Da Capo for select middle school members of ETCC, and Valerie Pickard conducts the Chorister choir for children in grades 1-3.  MECCA brings all of these choirs under one umbrella for a joint artistic vision and fund-raising effort. "The purpose of MECCA is to bring together the ETCC and HYE under one umbrella for the purposes of grant funding, one of the organization's principal source of revenue," said Tom Corum, former chair of the MECCA board. MECCA also helps both the ETCC and HYE develop a stronger artistic identity in the greater Mountain Empire region. The idea of MECCA already has brought favorable responses from well-known musical artists in the region. "I cannot think of any organization in our region which offers a more truly distinguished program for children in promoting artistic integrity, social discipline and educational benefits than that of the ETCC," said Kenton Coe, a Johnson City-based composer whom the ETCC has commissioned several times. "The plans for expansion can only bring a larger and longer-lasting benefit to our entire region and to future generations." With choirs for singers in grades 1-12 in the Tri-Cities area, the Mountain Empire Children's Choral Academy truly serves as "a musical mecca for the Mountain Empire region."