Today, the executive director of the Phoenix Boys Choir, Oleg Shvets, is here to share everything this amazing organization has to offer.
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Today I’m here with Oleg Shvets, the executive director of the Phoenix Boys Choir, to explain a little about what the organization does.
Next month will be Oleg’s two-year anniversary as executive director. Before that, he spent 17 years at the Department of Education as the executive director of DECA, a leadership program for high school students in marketing. Before that, he was a high school teacher.
Oleg is very passionate about providing leadership to young people. When he took over DECA in 1998, the program was on the verge of bankruptcy. Under his tenure, the program grew to be the sixth largest state association in the country and one of the most profitable organizations in the world.
He left DECA in 2015. He was looking for a new opportunity, and the Phoenix Boys Choir was looking for someone with a nonprofit background to revitalize what they were doing. It was a perfect fit.
The choir is celebrating their 70th anniversary this year. They are the only youth choir in the state with a Grammy award. There are about 100 boys in the program between the ages of seven and 14, and another 20 between the ages of 14 through 63. They do a number of shows for the valley throughout the year, and another dozen or so for private organizations.
The choir also tours in the summer. They did a five-and-a-half week tour of China, and this year they are going to Spain and Portugal for two-and-a-half weeks. One of the great things about the Phoenix Boys Choir is they give kids a chance to travel that they might not have had otherwise. The boys also learn about singing, performing, and leadership.
“MAKE SURE TO ATTEND A CONCERT TO SEE HOW AMAZING THE PHOENIX BOYS CHOIR IS.”
Since Arizona schools are underfunded, especially for music and arts education, the Phoenix Boys Choir has expanded their program. They want to be a beacon for community education, so they launched an initiative a year ago to provide free music education programs to elementary schools during school hours, after-school programs to Title I schools, and free professional development for music teachers.
This initiative has opened the door for the Phoenix Boys Choir to work with girls and create a more inclusive, diverse program. There will be a summer music camp for boys and girls this year. They are also going to include a division of the choir for boys and girls to take music classes together and do concerts for their families three or four times a year.
Music and arts programs are so important because they stimulate creativity and help improve right-brain activities, like science and math. The Phoenix Boys Choir wanted to help those schools that didn’t have the money or programs for music education. They have provided workshops for 3,000 students this year alone and gotten great feedback from kids, teachers, and administrators. They look forward to expanding the program next year.
You can visit their website to get tickets to their upcoming events. On April 28, the Phoenix Boys Choir will have a Heroes of Rock Concert featuring songs by Bon Jovi, Led Zeppelin, The Eagles, and Journey. Their annual gala is also coming up on April 7 at David Dodge’s Taliesin West home.
If you want to help the Phoenix Boys Choir, one of the biggest things you can do is attend a choir event or gala. Come to one concert for an amazing experience.
If anyone wants to audition, the Phoenix Boys Choir is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Auditions are free, so just call and make an appointment.
I would like to thank Oleg for taking the time to talk with us today. If you would like to learn more about the Phoenix Boys Choir, visit BoysChoir.org. As always, if you have any real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!
