The Branford Community Foundation, the leader in supporting a variety of local philanthropic needs, programs and services for 35 years, has distributed a $5,250 grant to the Branford High School Choral program to help support an international music performance and educational tour to Austria and the Czech Republic in 2016.

The Branford High School Choral program helps students with an interest in singing develop a love of learning, the value of generosity and a passion for sharing ideas through the arts. Under the guidance and leadership of Choral Director Cathyann Rodding for 31 years, hundreds of Choral program participants have experienced her unique and often altruistic teaching methods resulting in life lessons conveyed through Choir Basics, Concert Choir, Music Makers and Mainstreet Singers. Leadership skills, team building activities, fundraising tenets and general music principles are among the core benefits Choral students realize while recognizing that music is vital to one’s general well-being. In 2015, for example, the Branford High School Choral program produced and provided musical performances that raised $16,000 in support of the Branford Counseling Center Basic Needs program.

In April of 2016, the Branford High School Choral program will launch a performance tour to Austria and the Czech Republic. Approximately 85 to 90 students will participate in the trip. Fundraising efforts to support tour travel and performance expenses include the production and sale of a double CD choral music set titled, Joy to the World; Our December Prayer. Students will be involved in all business and creative components of the recording and marketing of the CD including: music selection, sound engineering, sales strategies and cost control. All net proceeds will support the April performance tour.

The Branford Community Foundation $5,250 grant will directly support production of Joy to the World; Our December Prayer.

The Branford Community Foundation benefits all residents by pooling contributions from like-minded citizens, managing these funds with professional guidance, and then carefully granting a portion of the income generated to local, nonprofit organizations. As a multipurpose permanent local charitable endowment, the Branford Community Foundation helps to build a healthy and successful community by supporting everything from basic needs and health services, to local environmental issues and education, to the arts and other programs.