TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The award-winning Cherokee National Youth Choir recently announced the release of its latest music CD, “Learning as We Sing,” a project intended to entertain and teach language skills.

The CD contains a variety of well-known traditional music intended for singing along, including patriotic American songs, Cherokee cultural songs, and even some Christmas songs.

“We’re extremely excited about this new album,” said Mary Kay Henderson, CNYC’s director, who said the CD was designed to make learning Cherokee a little bit easier by using translations of familiar songs.

Listeners can sing along with the choir and learn old favorites such as, “The Star Spangled Banner,” “This Land is Your Land,” “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “Jingle Bells” and “Frosty the Snowman,” all in the Cherokee language.

“We believe it will be a learning tool for young and old alike,” Henderson said. “The songs make the language easier to comprehend and hopefully we’ll start a new interest for learning the Cherokee language.”

The Cherokee National Youth Choir performs traditional Cherokee songs in the Cherokee language. The choir is made up of 40 Cherokee young people from northeastern Oklahoma communities. Its members are middle and high school youth between sixth and 12th grades. The students compete in rigorous auditions every year for inclusion in the Cherokee National Youth Choir.

The choir is funded solely by the Cherokee Nation, and administered through the Cherokee Nation Leadership Group. The group has recorded eight CDs, and has received numerous national awards for their music and ambassadorship.

“Learning as We Sing” and previous music releases by the CNYC are available at Cherokee Nation gift shops. For more information, visit the Web site or call (918) 453-5638.