Being a member of the local children’s choir Voices of Eve ’N’ Angels (VOENA) is a journey in a lot of ways. It can be a musical journey for youth who want to refine their singing talents, and ti can be a physical journey as members travel the globe to perform. Those who wish to embark on this journey can sign up in September.

Since its inception in 1994, VOENA has taught ethnically diverse music to children ages 5 to 18 while giving them an appreciation of other cultures and languages and allowing them to grow as performers. The children learn to sing in more than 20 languages while connecting with their peers. The program was founded by Annabelle Marie who was homeschooling her three sons at that time. The boys were already accomplished performing artists having been circus acrobats, and Marie wanted to teach them singing.

“I was developing a whole child concept project-based educational system with them,” she said. “I wanted something for singing because I was a singer and I felt frustrated that it’s not considered cool for boys to sing, so I thought I’m just gonna develop something myself.”

Additionally, coming from a circus background, Marie wanted a choral group with more movement.

“I wanted a very physical approach to singing,” she said. “So many traditional professional choirs are cerebral, and I wanted something that was very physically integrated.”

As a result, Marie developed her own children’s choir which started out with 12 students, and then grew to 25. Now the organization has more than 100 students throughout the Bay Area.

Along the way, VOENA gained enough of a reputation that the group has been able to score gigs at prestigious venues throughout the world. They have performed at Carnegie Hall multiple times, played at the White House five times under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, performed at the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics in London, represented the United States at the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan; debuted music for Maya Angelou’s poem “Amazing Peace” which they performed in front of the renowned poet; performed alongside famous musicians such as Rita Coolidge, Christopher Cross and Dave Koz; and performed at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II.

Marie said most of these gigs have been landed through word of mouth or through people learning about VOENA through internet searches. This was the case for their most recent performance at the wedding of Jon Chu, who directed Justin Bieber’s concert documentaries “Never Say Never” and “Believe” and currently has the No. 1 movie in America with “Crazy Rich Asians.”

“He was doing a search for a choir in the Bay Area, and he was looking at all these different choirs and looking at the YouTube that matched them,” Marie said.

Eventually, Chu found a video of VOENA performing John Lennon’s “Imagine” and was enamored by their skill and professionalism.

“He said, ‘VOENA’s very joyful yet with serious messages,’” Marie said.

It was not the first time someone has told her that, shee added.

As a further token of appreciation, the members of VOENA went to see “Crazy Rich Asians” on Friday. They posted a short video of the choir covering Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” outside the theater, which Chu reposted on Twitter.

“So touching to see @Voena be inspired by #CrazyRichAsians and sing outside the theater,” Chu tweeted. “Beautiful!!! So talented. Thanks girls!!!”

As part of their world travels, VOENA will be embarking on a tour of Croatia next summer where they will perform at an international music festival in Split, sing at a cathedral in Korcula— the same island where Marco Polo lived, and perform in Hvar for the Klapa Music Festival. Klapa is a style of music that blends a cappella with folk melodies.

Marie said the Croatia tour was suggested by Elvis Katic, a Benicia resident and drummer for the group Rock Ko Fol, a Croatian-Bosnian metal band. Katic is friends with Jeff Campitelli, VOENA’s rhythm director who played drums for Joe Satriani for more than 35 years.

“(Campitelli) introduced us to Elvis, and he said ‘Why don’t you do a tour in Croatia? We’ve never had an American children’s choir do a tour in Croatia,’” she said.

For the last four years, Marie has visited Croatia during her summer European trips to get the ball rolling.

“It’s so beautiful,” she said of the country.

In addition to its annual holiday and spring concerts in December and May respectively, VOENA will be performing at the Empress Theatre in Vallejo on Sept. 30 for its “Voices of Yesterday” tour. Marie said the concert was based on the death of her middle son Raphael Cruz, who passed away in Paris in January at the age of 31. Cruz was a professional acrobat and clown who performed internationally as part of Cirque du Soleil. The show will feature renditions of his favorite songs.

“He loved VOENA,” Marie said. “Every time he would be in town, he would help choreograph.”

Additionally, Marie said Cruz would sing with his two brothers when they got together.

Marie said the concert was about the journey of love and finding love and support with one another.

“So many of us have lost someone very dear to us,” she said. “It’s important to be in solidarity with each other.”

The concert will begin at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 30 at the Empress, located at 330 Virginia St.

For those who wish to join VOENA, open enrollment will take place from 3:30 to 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11 and 18 at the Veterans Memorial Hall, located at 1150 First St. Marie said she does not treat the open enrollment like auditions because VOENA will train anyone regardless of ability.

“I have met too many adults who said, ‘I was kicked out of choir’ and I vowed I would never, ever do that to anybody, especially a child,” she said. “If children have desire, they’re in. If they can only find three pitches, I work on educating their ear until they can find more and more, and eventually, unless they have an actual hearing deficiency, the kids end up finding 100 percent of the pitches. It can take up to about three years, but it works.”

In a time when music programs in schools are struggling, Marie said singing groups like VOENA can provide youth with important skills beyond just singing. Among these are team building, work ethics, leadership, developing friendships and more.

“Because singing comes from the body, it’s an instrument inside,” she said. “Since they use their whole body to be their instrument, it’s something that goes deep internal into the soul of each person.”

For more information on VOENA, visit voena.org. For more information on open enrollment, email Marie at annabelle@voena.org.