Our Story

Our story began in 2015 when Carrie Bonanotte recognized a need in our community for a children’s choir. As a former middle school choir director now staying home to raise her three small children, Carrie decided to start the Bel Canto Children’s Choir. It began in her living room, rehearsing weekly with these seven brave musicians. Here is a picture of them at their first recital in December of 2015.

Seven young children standing in a line on a carpeted stage, dressed in festive clothing, in an indoor setting with a yellow wall, framed picture, and poinsettia plant in the background.

It didn’t take long for the community to get excited about this new opportunity. Our very next session had almost double the children and their sound began to develop, as well as their focus and confidence. Here they are singing “The Water is Wide” where our focus was on pitch matching and tall, open vowels. This was the moment that Carrie realized very small children were capable of making beautiful music.

In the fall of 2016, we moved out of the Bonanotte living room and into the Flossmoor Community Church, thankfully so, because our little children’s choir continued to grow!

Group of elementary school children in red shirts standing on steps with a woman in a blazer, posing for a class photo.

Before long, we had the need to separate the choir into three distinct age groups to better serve the needs of the singers. This was the start of the Children’s Choir (youngest singers), Youth Choir (middle ages), and Concert Choir (oldest singers, pictured here.)

Group of children wearing matching red shirts sitting and kneeling on wooden church altar stairs, with a large cross and candles in the background.

Carrie believes strongly that music making and character building go hand in hand. The qualities that make a great musician also make a great community member: hard work, compassion, and the ability to work together towards a common goal. The motto of the Bel Canto Choir program is “Create Through Character,” meaning that focusing on the child’s character is beneficial for the student, the group, and the community. If we focus on character, we will be creating a beautiful product on multiple levels.

The Bel Canto students have participated in multiple community service projects that have benefitted many local non-profit organizations. Students absolutely always participate in these projects with enthusiasm and compassion to help provide for those in need.

Group photo of young students and teacher in a classroom, all holding small decorated boxes with heart designs.

Children sitting on the floor around a blue fabric with shark illustrations and message, engaged in a craft activity.

COVID-19 had a devastating affect on the world and the choral community. We abruptly stopped our rehearsals to keep our community safe, but the uncertainty was unsettling for all of us. We took a short break while we tried to understand what life looked like moving forward. Carrie first thought to create YouTube videos so she could continue reading to her students, an absolute favorite part of her classes. It was her hope that making these videos would provide the students with a sense of comfort in such uncertain times.

Then she began online classes where she could continue to give instruction so student’s voices and musicianship would continue to grow. No one knew how long we would be quarantining so we had to do something to give ourselves some sense of normalcy. With the help of https://www.annecoltonfilms.com/ we were even able to put together a virtual choir video so we could hear our voices together again.

A screenshot of a virtual video call with 12 children and one adult, all smiling and posing for the camera.

Screenshot of a virtual meeting with multiple children and an adult, each in their own video window, some holding toys or plush animals.

We emerged from COVID stronger than ever. We were so happy to be back together again and Carrie had an even greater passion for bringing her community together through the arts. This is when the Spotlight Performance Academy was truly born.

Carrie started with expanding her programming to adults, forming the Bel Canto Community Choir in 2022. She started with 11 brave adults and it quickly grew to a choir of over 70 people with various experience levels, from professionals to first time choir participants.

A diverse choir standing on risers and singing under the direction of a conductor in a theater. The singers and conductor are all dressed in black, with some red accents.

Our programs continue to grow with introducing Improv Comedy classes, Parent/Tot music classes, and musical theater opportunities for both children and adults. Our impact on the arts in our community has been incredible and we feel we are just getting started!

Group of children in school uniforms on stage performing with their fists raised, in front of red curtains.