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. Now, the ETCC board of directors has 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 Beth P. McCoy, artistic director of the ETCC since 1994.

MECCA brings both 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, 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."

In addition to establishing the umbrella organization of MECCA, the board of directors is establishing preparatory choirs – choirs consisting of second- and third-graders – in each of the Tri-Cities. These will be starting in the fall of 2007. The final plan is to offer the following preparatory choirs: the Abingdon Choristers, Bristol Choristers, Kingsport Choristers, Johnson City Choristers and the Greeneville Choristers. These will be announced as qualified directors are found.

Once Chorister Choirs are established throughout the Tri-Cities area, then the Mountain Empire Children's Choral Academy truly will serve as "a musical mecca for the Mountain Empire region."

A Short History of the MECCA Program

written by Laura Ann Warner, former chair of the board and accompanist for the ETCC

It was a real joy to have a part in the activities and growth of ETCC and HYE as they combined to become MECCA....and to witness its increasingly significant impact on the music and people of the Mountain Empire. With the inspiration of Carl King's vision, Beth McCoy's dedicated leadership, the committed service of the Board and the support of the surrounding communities, MECCA appears to be headed for even greater heights as it extends its outreach, fulfilling a much needed service to the young people and audiences of our region. Dr. King realized his vision of the East Tennessee Children's Choir in 1987 when he got it off the ground without aid of grants and his three years at the helm were all done voluntarily. Duties at ETSU necessitated his giving up the directorship in 1990, but he remained on the advisory council as the board of directors searched for a new director.

When JCAAC through TAC awarded a grant, the board was able to hire Beth McCoy as Artistic Director of ETCC in January of 1994, and the three year silence was ended. The Tri-Cities communities have been blessed with the music of its young people ever since and the seed planted by Dr. King has been blossoming in marvelous ways.

Singers come from all over the Mountain Empire, from as far as Roan Mountain, Glade Spring and Mosheim with the majority from Johnson City, Bristol, Kingsport and Abingdon. Their parents are definitely committed, making sure they are at rehearsals every week regardless of distance traveled. When graduates did not want their singing to end, Beth formed the Highlands Youth Ensemble in 2003 for ETCC graduates and other qualified singers in grades eight through twelve. These young people have added a new dimension to the organization and we are now looking forward to the Chorister Choirs being formed in Bristol, Johnson City and Greeneville.

The first year saw performances of the 55 voice ETCC with the Kingsport Symphony, the Johnson City Symphony, and in 1995 an appearance with the Rybinsk Russian Girls' Chorus. Each year has presented more opportunities for collaboration with musical groups: handbells and Suzuki groups, the Tusculum Youth Choir, the Milligan Chamber Orchestra and nationally-known organists Tom Hazelton and Ron Rhode. In 2005 the ETCC joined the Voices of the Mountains and the Symphony of the Mountains to sing Orff's "Carmina Burana" and later Puccini's "La Boheme."

A real thrill for the group was performing Daniel Kingman's "Appalachian Harmony," written especially for them for the 2000 Continental Harmony Millennium project, sponsored by the American Composers Forum and the National Endowment for the Arts. They have also been privileged to know area composers such as Kenton Coe, Bill Thomas, Evelyn Kopitzke and Robert Greene, all of whom have written pieces for the choir. Another highlight was their performance of the complete musical, "The Ghosts of Featherstone Castle and Other Tales of the Border Country," written by their own Beth McCoy!

Both choirs have sung for Bristol's "Rhythm & Roots," Jonesborough's "Music On the Square," Abingdon's Virginia Highlands Festival, Bristol Motor Speedway's "Festival of Lights" and Biltmore Estates' "Christmas Candlelight Tours" since 2004. The Highlands Youth Ensemble has sung at Carnegie Hall under Dr. Andre Thomas in the Field Studies International and recently competed in Pecs, Hungary.

Singers from both choirs have been selected to sing in honor choirs at OAKE National Conferences, several times having the most members chosen and landing solos in the national choirs. These performances have been in Baltimore, New Orleans, Columbus, Seattle, San Antonio, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Williamsburg, Charlotte, Springfield and Chicago. Plus there are many graduates who win large music scholarships in college, go on to major in music and become truly accomplished professional musicians.

This is an amazing organization, one which the citizens of the Mountain Empire can be very proud to claim and celebrate.