1) Les Petits Chanteurs, an all-male choir of 30 boys from Haiti's only music school, will perform a concert at Vassar College on September 20th to raise money to rebuild their school that was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. 2) The concert will feature performances by Les Petits Chanteurs as well as the Vassar College Choir and Women's Chorus. Proceeds will go toward the rebuilding efforts of the Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince through the Vassar Haiti Project. 3) Organizers hope the joint concert brings people together across differences and demonstrates how music can bridge gaps, while also supporting artists and teaching students about global

1. VHP to host Haitian boys’ choir for charity
The Miscellany News, September 19, 2013
Are you searching for something
fun to bring your parents to as an
appetizer for Freshman Families
Weekend? Are you ready to listen
to some fantastic music? Look no
further—this Friday the 20th at 7
p.m. will see a concert featuring
Les Petits Chanteurs (or “The
Little Singers”), an all-male SATB
choir of thirty students from the
Holy Trinity Music School, located
in Port-au-Prince, the only music
school in Haiti.
The concert will take place on the
second floor of the All Campus
Dining Center, with room for about
three hundred people. The boys,
led by their director Jean-Bernard
Desinat, will be singing a selection of
music, including Haitian folk songs, spiritual songs, and religious music.
Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students aged five to eighteen, and free for children younger
than five. All proceeds from the concert will go toward this project.
The Vassar Haiti Project (VHP)—which was founded in 2001 by Assistant Dean for Campus
Life and Director of International Services Andrew Meade and his wife Lila—started planning
the event in June. VHP will be tabling in the College Center prior to the performance, and tickets
will also be available at the door.
Les Petits Chanteurs will be accompanied by a chamber ensemble from the Holy Trinity Music
School and will follow performances by the Vassar College Choir (VCC) and the Vassar College
Women’s Chorus. “The two Vassar choirs are performing as a kind of special performance as a
way of a reciprocal exchange,” said Vice President of Outreach at Haiti Project Inc. Sahara
Pradhan ’15.
The choirs are excited to use their talents to help raise money for a good cause, and the added
event gives them more opportunities to perform their repertoires. According to an emailed
statement from Pilar Jefferson ’15, “Since [it’s] early on in the semester we’ll be singing pieces
that we’re currently working on for our full concert in November, as well as Os Justi by
[Bruckner], in combination with VCC, which is the song we sung at Convocation.”
Les Petits Chanteurs, which translates to “The Little
Singers,” will perform at Vassar on
Sept. 20, the first day of Freshmen Families Weekend,
to raise money for their school. Photo courtesy of
Veterans’ Children.

2. Event organizers also believe that the joint concert will be beneficial in more ways than one.
VHP Medical Initiative Director Sarah Oliver ’15 explained in an emailed statement, “This choir
is a unique opportunity to see a group of boys unite together for a cause they feel passionate
about: rebuilding their school. This event is about bringing together all kinds of people and
demonstrating that a love of music and quest for knowledge bridges any gaps in identity.”
Les Petits Chanteurs accepts students based on auditions and is comprised of young men as well
as boys as young as seven. It was founded in 1960 and accepts singers of any economic standing.
The group has completed several tours of the United States since its initial visit in 1984 and the
music program at the Holy Trinity Music School has gained international notice after a
performance at Tanglewood with L’Orchestre Philharmonique Sainte-Trinité.
The choir is touring the Northeast Coast this autumn to raise funds for the reconstruction of the
Holy Trinity Music School, which was destroyed in an earthquake in January 2010.
Pradhan expressed her enthusiasm for the choir’s arrival. She said, “I’m really excited to see the
boys and meet the choir, because then suddenly everything [VHP has] been working for will
become much more real. That’s what I’m most looking forward to—there’s going to be a great
energy.”
She continued, “I think it’s a great learning experience on so many different levels. Part of it is
helping the village of Chermaitre, which we work very closely with, and part of it is supporting
artists. We buy art and we sell that artwork to make a profit which goes back to the village of
Chermaitre, so it’s a cyclical process. The other part is teaching students the meaning of global
citizenship. It’s meaningful in many ways.”
VHP organized a concert for Les Petits Chanteurs in the Chapel in 2010, which the group
considers a great success. Despite the excitement the 2010 concert engendered in the student
body, VHP recognizes that time has dulled people’s need to act. “2010 was the earthquake,” said
Pradhan. “A lot of promises were made, and then our lives moved on. But the struggle is still
very real for the people there who are rebuilding their entire lives. So I think [the concert is] also
a moment where we can reflect, come to our bearings, and recognize that the struggle is still real
and very much going on.”
Fundraising and Development Co-President Cindy Fung ’14 agreed, writing in an emailed
statement, “I see the concert as a continuation and affirmation of our efforts—it is the result of
our successful partnership in 2010. We are excited to have the opportunity to connect two places
and two communities in this one event.”