In response, DuBose decided to waive or subsidize tuition for low-income parents who submitted their tax forms to the organization. Over the 34 years she’s run the group, she’s continued the practice as the cost to join has increased. Today, tuition for the chorus is $575 a year — a fee that includes music, uniforms, weekly lessons, and a week of summer camp. It also helps DuBose pay her teachers and expand programming across the county. But she estimates that 5 to 10 percent of students pay a reduced tuition, or nothing at all.

“We usually use free or reduced lunch eligibility as a baseline,” she said. “But when you have a single mother with two children and the only barrier is cost, it’s a no-brainer. Probably the thing we’ve been most guilty of over the years is being too generous.”

Students in the chorus aren’t just given an opportunity to sing, DuBose added. They learn to read music and receive training under the Kodály method, an approach to musical education developed in Hungary and recently classified as a form of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. For most students, it goes above and beyond the 80 minutes of musical education they receive each week at public elementary schools. And for the children who can’t afford tuition, it ensures they’re given the same opportunities as any other student in the chorus.

In the past five years, more and more research has focused on the impact of the arts on childhood development. Most studies agree that a rounded arts education can help both academic performance and social skills, emphasizing sharing, emotional regulation, and empathy in young learners. Children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds who participate in the arts often show better outcomes compared with peers without access to arts education. High schools with strong arts programs have higher graduationrates than schools without them, according to the U.S. Department of Education. But nationally, statistics show that low-income and minority students often have less access to the arts.

Organizations across Frederick County, including the Frederick Children’s Chorus, are working to equalize access to the arts and expand local opportunities. The Delaplaine Arts Center recently received a three-year grant from the Ausherman Family Foundation to partially fund a community outreach manager, a new position that coordinates the facility’s arts programming. Caitlin Gill, who took the position just a few months ago, has already expanded some of the Delaplaine’s community involvement, partnering with the Frederick County Housing Authority to hold a series of 12 art workshops for younger residents of Carver and Lucas Village, two public housing communities in Frederick.

The Delaplaine also partners with the YMCA of Frederick County to offer art classes within its Head Start Education program, a federally funded resource for low-income three- and four-year-olds. Independently, the YMCA offers several other arts programs, including dance, cooking, and comic book classes, said Leia Wood, the organization’s Director of Arts and Humanities. While those programs aren’t specifically for low-income students, the YMCA offers financial aid and scholarships to lower-income enrollees who can’t afford the cost of the courses.

“I know last year, we had 15 scholarship participants in the dance program alone,” Wood said.

“Over the years, we’ve probably offered financial aid to thousands of people,” added Chris Colville, the chief executive officer for the YMCA. “We’re filling a need that’s always existed in the community.”

Other arts organizations, including the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, work to expand opportunities within Frederick County Public Schools. For the last 15 years, the company has provided a 10 week in-school program for elementary and middle schools in Frederick County, providing the scripts, coaching, and costumes for a full-scale theatrical production. The MET offers the program for free at the county’s six Title I schools — a federal designation for schools with high numbers of students from low-income families.

School funding for visual arts, music, and theater has increased in Frederick County over the past few years, from $14,977,467 in fiscal year 2017 to $16,513,153 in fiscal 2019, according to figures from FCPS spokesman Michael Doerrer. Still, that funding often doesn’t cover the same type of programming found at many private schools, including theater, said Julie Herber, the assistant artistic director for the MET.