Columbia will be represented this weekend at Carnegie Hall as 10 members of the Columbia High School Concert Choir sing at the prestigious New York venue.
Director Kim Walley and students will leave early Thursday to participate in the Sunday performance of Dan Forrest’s “Jubilate Deo.”
Sarah Mason, Kimberly Martin, Liza Hathorn, Olivia Carney, Kayla Hammond, Lexi May, Kolten Sorrell, Aarion Watts, Christian McCance and Jalaysia Everette will represent CHS along with Walley, who also plans to sing.
“We will sing with people from all over the world,” she said. “I think it is going to be about a 200-voice choir. Rehearsals will be on Friday and Saturday and also Sunday. Then we will perform Sunday afternoon in Carnegie Hall.”
The CHS musicians will join other choristers to form the Distinguished Concerts Singers International. The concert will take place in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall under the direction of the choir’s Associate Artistic Director James Meaders.
“We’re only taking 10 because when we planned the trip we still only had 15 kids in choir,” Walley said. “We have over 40 kids this year. We’re taking a total of 40 people, a combination of my kids, some of their parents and then my husband’s choir from Main Street Baptist in Hattiesburg.”
The students will also have other opportunities to enjoy New York City. They’re touring the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as well as going to two Broadway shows: “Hello Dolly” with Bernadette Peters and “Phantom of the Opera.”
It will be a whirlwind trip. They’ll get an early start Thursday morning, arriving at the airport at about 3:30, and will return Monday near 11 p.m.
Walley said the students have been working hard to learn the piece for the performance.
“They know the music,” she said. “They have been rehearsing a lot. They have rehearsed with the Main Street choir, and they’ve had to rehearse on their own. We have a four-hour rehearsal Friday and Saturday and then we will have a two-hour rehearsal Sunday morning at Carnegie Hall and then we will perform Sunday afternoon.”
Jonathan Griffin, artistic director and principal conductor for Distinguished Concerts International New York City, said in a statement that the CHS choir members were extended an invitation because of the “quality and high level of the musicianship demonstrated by the singers.”
“It is quite an honor just to be invited to perform in New York,” he said. “These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music education, but will also become ambassadors for the entire community. This is an event of extreme pride for everybody and deserving on the community’s recognition and support.”
