The Children's Chorus of Carroll County Performs at the Baltimore Estonian House Christmas Program

On Saturday, December 13, 2003, ten girls and three boys from the Children's Chorus of Carroll County traveled to the Baltimore Estonian House to perform in the annual Christmas program presented by the Baltimore Estonian School.

The Carroll County children, ages 7,8 and 9, sang three seasonal songs alone and "Angels We Have Heard on High" with the Estonian children. At the end of the scheduled performance, the Carroll County children sang one song for the Jõuluvana (Santa Claus), and, at his insistence, they also sang "Silent Night". At the conclusion of their singing, the Jõuluvana gave each child candy and apples as a nice gift.

In addition to the thirteen children, there were fourteen parents, two grandmothers, Holly Kennedy and her husband, Diane Jones and Thomas Beyard, who traveled to the Baltimore Estonian House to enjoy the great Christmas program. For many of these individuals, this was their first Estonian experience.

The Children's Chorus of Carroll County is co-directed by Diane Jones and Holly Kennedy. Diane Jones directs the older children and Holly Kennedy directs the younger members of the chorus.

From July 10 – 21, 2004, twenty-four of the older children (20 girls and 4 boys) from the Children's Chorus of Carroll County will perform in Finland, Estonia and Sweden. The group will be in Estonia from July 13 – 18, 2004 and will perform in Paide, Tallinn, Pärnu and Põltsama, and also have time to visit tourist sites. The group will also have the opportunity to meet Mayor Tõnis Kõiv of Paide, staff and friends and other Estonian officials. The overall group, including children, parents and others, will number about 80.

Westminster, Maryland, where the Children's Chorus of Carroll County is based, and Paide, Estonia are partner cities. Since September, 2002, the cities have engaged in government, cultural, educational, economic development and philanthrophic exchanges. Cultural exchanges have been an important component of this partnership.