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MidAmerica Productions Provides Musicians with
the Opportunity of a Lifetime
Read how MidAmerica Productions has affected the lives of musicians around the world. The following stories describe the experiences of the some of the participants in MidAmerica events.
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In the News: Choral and Orchestral Concerts in Isaac Stern Auditorium
at Carnegie Hall
2008
Herald Net (Washington) [PDF 55k]
Emanuel Vardi, master violist, shares his Carnegie experience with the Jackson High School Wind Ensemble.
The News Virginian (Virginia) [PDF 30k]
The Waynesboro High School Concert Choir is taking its act all the way to New York City.
The Daily Times (Texas) [PDF 36k]
Lynda Ables, a MidAmerica participating director, celebrates 30 years as a choir director.
2007
The Ponca City News (Oklahoma) [PDF 34k]
The Po-Hi Chorale spreads holiday cheer to help prepare for their January 2009 trip to Carnegie Hall.
The Daily Leader (Mississippi) [PDF 44k]
The vocal music department of the Mississippi Schools of the Arts (MSA) is bound for New York City.
The New York Sun (New York) [PDF 41k]
Popularity in the world of serious art music is a relative term, but a listener at the sold-out concert
at Carnegie Hall on Sunday afternoon, when British composer John Rutter conducted the New England
Symphonic Ensemble and a large assortment of choruses in a terrific performance of his “Magnificat,”
might not have thought so.
Tucson Citizen (Arizona) [PDF 76k]
The Rincon/University High School choir is practicing—and fundraising—on the road to Carnegie Hall.
The Herald of Arkansas State University (Arkansas) [PDF 131k]
The ASU choir will be making their third appearance at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions.
Southern Nazarene University (Missouri) [PDF 88k]
Dr. Brent Ballweg and the Southern Nazarene University Chorale Program will perform at Carnegie Hall on
Sunday, January 13, 2008.
Deseret Morning News (Utah) [PDF 113k]
The Wasatch Chorale returns to New York in May to perform at Carnegie Hall.
KansasCity.com (Missouri) [PDF 30k]
Phillip Posey returns to Carnegie, this time as the conductor.
The Payson Roundup (Arizona) [PDF 52k]
Thirteen members of Payson High School's Modern Choir travel to Carnegie Hall.
The Evangelical Covenant Church (Illinois) [PDF 52k]
Covenant girl lives the dream: Carnegie Hall.
Pocono Record (Pennsylvania) [PDF 92k]
Stroudsburg High grad will sing solo at Carnegie Hall.
The Chronicle Herald (Canada) [PDF 91k]
Cantatrice Ensemble Girls’ Choir to perform at children's choir festival in New York.
Herald Net (Washington) [PDF 65k]
Henry M. Jackson High School Wind Ensemble prepares travel to Carnegie Hall in May 2008.
The Call to Carnegie (Australia) [PDF 28k]
Wynette Horne and her students remember their time at Carnegie Hall.
NWI.com (Indiana) [PDF 26k]
Munster High School Choir members reflect on their trip to New York City.
NWI.com (Indiana) [PDF 27k]
Munster High School Choir students get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at Carnegie Hall.
The St. Petersburg Times (Florida) [PDF 50k]
Stephanie Delorenzi will turn 17 years old on May 3. And there's only one thing the Clearwater
High School junior wants for her birthday: to be on a flight to New York City that day with her
fellow chorus members.
The Daily Star (New York) [PDF 39k]
Unadilla Valley Honor Chorus prepares for Carnegie Hall.
The Humble Observer (Texas) [PDF 29k]
Members of the Kingwood Area Grand Chorus reflect on their March 12 performance.
YourHub.com - Lakewood (Colorado) [PDF 201k]
Christian Fellowship School student Hannah Glennon writes about her groups experiences in New York City.
Baltimore Sun (Maryland) [PDF 142k]
"I like singing contemporary music better than classical music. But classical training is the
best way to learn how to sing."
The Mining Journal (Michigan) [PDF 127k]
A number of Marquette County choruses prepare to perform at Carnegie Hall.
Madison record (Wisconsin) [PDF 29k]
The Sparkman High School Choir is heading to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall.
nwMissourinews.com (Missouri) [PDF 90k]
"Choir helps students build character because you have a group of people who work together," Town
said. "They have to respect themselves and the music. It's 45 students blending and balancing
voices."
The Enquirer (Ohio) [PDF 69k]
St. Ursula Academy senior Sara Fletcher feels what it's like to be a professional vocalist.
The Huntsville Times (Alabama) [PDF 102k]
The Sparkman High Concert Choir looks forward to performing at Carnegie Hall.
Mobile Register (Alabama) [PDF 75k]
The Greater Mobile Bay Area Choral Association performs Vivaldi, Mozart and Faure on March 12.
Times Community Newspapers (Ohio) [PDF 132k]
Northmont High School graduate Brad Pipenger, trumpet, performs at Carnegie Hall with the 2007
National Wind Ensemble.
The Times-Tribune (Pennsylvania) [PDF 84k]
Katie Grudzinski must have practiced a lot.
MissouriNet (Missouri) [PDF 74k]
Worth County High School choir director Jim Spires receives an exciting call from New York City.
The Community Press (Ohio) [PDF 117k]
The St. Ursula Academy Vocal Ensemble performs at Carnegie Hall with maestro Jonathan Griffith.
Indiana Daily Student (Indiana) [PDF 104k]
IU alumnus Jonathan Ng is not your typical musician.
RecordNet.com (California) [PDF 182k]
Tracy High School students perform wartime love songs to help pay for a trip to Carnegie Hall..
Arizona Daily Star (Arizona) [PDF 161k]
Marie Charlton gets to fulfill a life-long dream of performing at Carnegie Hall.
The Ledger Independent (Kentucky) [PDF 86k]
Charlie Hunter, viola, gets a second opportunity with the National Festival Orchestra in 2007.
2006
The Times and Democrat online (South Carolina) [PDF 146k]
Sheneice Duckett Smith is happy, proud and on her way with the O-W Chorus to Carnegie Hall.
The Press-Enterprise (New Mexico) [PDF 177k]
The Moreno Valley choir will do what they know best to punch their ticket to Carnegie Hall -- music.
The Monroe Times (Missouri) [PDF 84k]
"You're in are and dumbstruck and you're trying so hard to stay focused," 17-year-old Emily Guerin said.
"Then when you're done you're like, 'Wow!'".
Arizona Daily Star (Arizona) [PDF 153k]
An invitation to perform at the renown New York City venue this spring made a dream come true for
the Valley Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Choir.
Georgetown News-Graphic (Missouri) [PDF 83k]
"To play in the world's most famous concert hall is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The students
will remember that musical experience for the rest of their lives," Brawner said. "We're
going to do it. I have faith in the students and in the community. We're going."
The Lakewood Observer (Ohio) [PDF 93k]
Dr. Lisa Hanson and her choir have been invited to participate in a performance of John Rutter's
"Requiem" on May 6, 2007.
Chippewa.com (Wisconsin) [PDF 43k]
Siblings travel to perform at Carnegie Hall.
DePauw University news (Indiana) [PDF 109k]
Three DePauw University School of Music students have been selected to participate in the National
Wind Ensemble, a 76-member ensemble featuring many of the top collegiate musicians from across the
United States.
Concordia University College of Alberta (Alberta, Canada) [PDF 25k]
The Concordia Community Chorus prepares to sing at Carnegie Hall in a performance of Haydn's
Paukenmesse (Mass in Time of War) on November 6.
Midland Report-Telegram (Texas) [PDF 33k]
The First Presbyterian Church Sanctuary Choir gets its chance at Carnegie Hall.
New York Sun (New York) [PDF 16k]
A review of a June 25th concert at Carnegie Hall conducted by John Rutter.
Fulton Sun (Missouri) [PDF 134k]
Fulton High School tubist Jonathan Speek performs with the National Wind Ensemble at Carnegie Hall.
Arizona Daily Star (Arizona) [PDF 113k]
The Southern Arizona Women's Chorus performs at Carnegie Hall.
The News Examiner (Tennessee) [PDF 148k]
Jeannette Ebelhar conducts at Carnegie Hall.
New York Sun (New York) [PDF 65k]
Choirs from all over the country perform at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions.
Arizona Daily Star (Arizona) [PDF 39k]
Fundraising, determination, and lots of practice get Marana Choir to hallowed hall.
The Worldlink (Oregon) [PDF 56k]
Seventeen students from the Marshfield High School
Concert Choir perform at Carnegie Hall on May 22.
Orange County Register (California) [PDF 93k]
The Orange County High School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Chris Russell, perform at Carnegie Hall.
Del Rio News Herald (Texas) [PDF 98k]
Fourteen Del Rio residents, including 11 high school students,
two 2005 high school graduates, and Del Rio High
School Choir Director Jan Pressgrove will perform at Carnegie Hall.
Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier (Iowa) [PDF 92k]
Mitchell County choir prepares for performance of a lifetime at Carnegie Hall.
Sun Herald (Mississippi) [PDF 94k]
Biloxi High School Choir gets to Carnegie Hall:
Group spent a year preparing for 'dream-come-true'.
Explorer (Arizona) [PDF 18k]
An interview with Terrie Ashbaugh, the director of the Foorhills Women's Chorus, about their upcoming performance at Carnegie Hall
Gainesville Sun (Florida) [PDF 45k]
Seventeen students from the P.K. Yonge Developmental
Research School in Florida perform Carnegie Hall.
Los Angeles Times (California) [PDF 76k]
Students from Dorsey High School in Los Angeles prepare for their performance at Carnegie Hall.
Pocono Record (Pennsylvania) [PDF 21k]
Percussionist Beth Faulstick, prepares for her performance at Carnegie Hall with the National Wind Ensemble.
Observer Dispatch (New York) [PDF 32k]
Students from the New Hartford Junior-Senior High School perform at Carnegie Hall.
The Star Telegram (Texas) [PDF 31k]
Choirs from Tarrent County, Texas, perform at carnegie Hall, under the baton of Marion Nesvadba.
The Times Herald (Michigan) [PDF 28k]
Students from Adrien College prepare for their performance at Carnegie Hall.
The Daily Telegram (Michigan) [PDF 24k]
Adrien College Choir, and Lenawee Community Chorus perform at Carnegie Hall.
Depauw University (Indiana) [PDF 26.6k]
Sophmore frnch horn player Corinne Webb to participate in the National Wind Ensemble.
Miami Herald (Florida) [PDF 16k]
Barry University professor Giselle Rios conducts a combined choir at Carnegie Hall.
Kamloops This Week (British Columbia) [PDF 12k]
"I was really surprised. It was hard to believe it was true until I phoned them and asked 'is this
for real?'"
InNews Weekly (Massachusets) [PDF 24k]
The Boston Women's Rainbow Chorus prepares for her upcoming performances at Carnegie Hall with a local performance in Boston.
Aurora Sentinel & Daily Sun Online (Colorado) [PDF 48k]
"I’m really excited," the 17-year-old repeated over and over again during a Jan. 8 interview at an
Aurora coffee shop. "I didn’t really expect to get in."
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Texas) [PDF 32k]
Matt Edwards, from Frenship High, prepares for his performance with the National Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
2005
The Southwesterner (Kansas) [PDF 911k]
"They had been anticipating this moment for nearly a year, raising funds and perfecting the German
syllables for Brahms' Nänie. For many, this was the first time they had been to New
York, and the city sights and sounds receded into the background for this instant of
help breath."
The Herald (Washington) [PDF 21k]
Flutist Anna Jung prepares for her upcoming performances with the National Festival Orchestra, and the National Wind Ensemble, at Carnegie Hall.
Middlesboro Daily News (Kentucky) [PDF 28k]
“This group not only has been given an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform in a historic venue...they also have a chance to put LMU center stage in the choral music world.”
Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania) [PDF 26k]
Lebanon High School student Stephanie Blouch will be performing at Carnegie Hall with the National Wind Ensemble in May
The Austin American Statesman (Texas) [PDF 20k]
The St. Andrew's choir of Austin, Texas performed at Carnegie Hall with John Rutter on November 27, 2005
The Toledo Blade (Ohio) [PDF 9k]
A choral group from Toledo Ohio performs locally in preparation of their performance at Carnegie Hall
The Item of Millburn and Short Hills (New Jersey) [PDF 168k]
Candace Wicke, a resident of Northern New Jersey, is a Conductor in Residence at MidAmerica Productions, and often conducts at Carnegie Hall
The Seattle Times (Washington) [PDF 102k]
Derek Zadinsky plays a solo for double bass with the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
Daily Press (Michigan) [PDF 208k]
"It's wonderful...when you're looking out at the beautiful concert hall and surrounded by a sea of
audience, it was almost overwhelming."
The Palmetto Bay News (Florida) [PDF 197k]
Members of the combined choirs of St. Richard Catholic Church in Palmetto Bay perform at Carnegia Hall
Lincoln Journal Star (Nebraska) [PDF 228k]
"It was really cool to think of all the famous musicians who have performed there, just to know I was standing on the
same stage as these musicians who will be known for years and years"
The Gazette (Colorado) [PDF 198k]
The Colorado Springs Youth Symphony perform at Carnegia Hall as part of the Ensemble Spotlight Series
The Cincinnati Post (Ohio) [PDF 107k]
"'We are just so excited about having the chance to do it,' he said. 'It's just been so much fun.'”
Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) [PDF 140k]
"'I'm still shaking from the concert,' Eric said, grinning with excitement"
Los Alamos Moniter (New Mexico) [PDF 156k]
"Playing with a group of that caliber was an honor..."
La Crosse Tribune (Wisconsin) [PDF 124k]
J.J. Pearse, percussionist, performes in the 2005 National Wind Ensemble.
Park Rapids Enterprise (Minnesota) [PDF 127k]
"I'm kind of feeling jitters, but I know it's something I'm never going to forget."
Vox Magazine (Ohio) [PDF 171k]
"People work all their lives to sing at Carnegie,” Eacho says. “For this opportunity to come at such a young age, it’s great for the résumé. It’s very exciting."
The Danbury News-Times (Connecticut) [PDF 105k]
"It's Carnegie Hall in New York City and the fact that a small group from Ridgefield is going to take part in
the experience is amazing."
The Baltimore Sun (Maryland) [PDF 166k]
"There is only one Carnegie Hall ... and it's not just a wonderful building, but such a wonderful tradition," says conductor
John Rutter while preparing a group of chorus members for their performance on the venerable stage.
The Courier Journal (Kentucky) [PDF 124k]
"This is the biggest concert in the history of the school for the orchestra, and a fantastic experience for the students," says Lyndon Lawless who brings his orchestra to Carnegie Hall as part of MAP's Ensemble Spotlight Series.
Mobile Register (Alabama) [PDF 89k]
"It's probably going to be one of the best experiences of our lives," says one performer in anticipation
of her group's upcoming concert with MAP at Carnegie Hall.
Miles City Star (Montana) [PDF 125k]
Members of the Custer County District High School Chorale make the trip to New York City, and they give an unforgettable
performance at Carnegie Hall.
Various American Newspapers [PDF 109k]
Three groups, three cities, and one concert. The Carolina Reporter, Log
Cabin Democrat, and Times Herald-Record offer encouragement to local choral groups by
previewing their collective performance at Carnegie Hall on February 22, 2005.
2004
Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Hawaii) [PDF 236k]
Hawaii Pacific University' Vocal Ensemble performs at Carnegie Hall.
The Courier Journal (Kentucky) [PDF 124k]
"This is the biggest concert in the history of the school for the orchestra, and a fantastic experience for the students," says Lyndon Lawless who brings his orchestra to Carnegie Hall as part of MAP's Ensemble Spotlight Series.
Connection Newspapers (Virginia) [PDF 153k]
"just for these kids to audition says a lot of thair talent," Derke said. "They're the cream of the crop."
Culpeper Star-Exponnent (Virginia) [PDF 144k]
Rebecca Haluska, a first year bank instructor from Virginia, joins the 2004 National Festival Orchestra.
The West Australian [PDF 189k]
Choirs from "down-under" travel to New York's Carnegie Hall to take part in the performance of a lifetime.
The Daily Herald (Washington)
Four high schools students are the state's only representatives selected to perform with the
National Festival Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
Rapid City Journal (South Dakota)
Students from Black Hills State University make the trip to New York City, and they give a stellar performance at Carnegie
Hall.
Portland Tribune (Oregon)
A story about the Portland Youth Philharmonic and their triumph at Carnegie Hall as part of MAP's Ensemble Spotlight Series.
Winchester Sun (Kentucky) [PDF 89k]
Percussionist Caleb Crosby looks forward to his opportunity to perform under esteemed conductor
H. Robert Reynolds as part of MAP's annual National Wind Ensemble.
2003
Newark Star-Ledger (New Jersey)
A profile of John Rutter and the 15-year partnership between the conductor and MAP.
Tallahassee Democrat (Florida)
High school band musicians tell about their awe-inspiring experience performing with esteemed conductor
H. Robert Reynolds as part of MAP's annual National Wind Ensemble.
Omaha World-Herald [PDF 270k]
World-class choir is created for high-class gig.
Bergen County Record (New Jersey) [PDF 400k]
The Carnegie Experience: Lakeland Regional Chorus revels in encore performances.
Huntsville Times (Alabama) [PDF 177k]
Baptist church choir performs at Carnegie Hall.
Miami Herald (Florida)
Now a conductor-in-residence with MidAmerica Productions, Candace Wicke tells the Miami Herald about
the fulfilling experience she and her chorus on stage at Carnegie Hall in the spring of 2002.
2002
The Washington Post (D.C.) [PDF 210K]
Washington D.C. youth ensemble perform at Carnegia Hall as part of the Ensemble Spotlight Series
In the News: MidAmerica Productions's Conductors-in-Residence
The Danbury News-Times (Connecticut) [PDF 92k]
John Liepold, MAP's Director of Concert Operations, and Eric Dale Knapp, Conductor-in-Residence, lead the Connecticut
Choral Society in a riveting performance of 20th-century French music.
Grand Island Independent (Nebraska) [PDF 221k]
MidAmerica Productions Conductor-in-Residence, Eric Dale Knapp, works with students from a Nebraska high school and
teaches them what it takes to be a part of a successful choral ensemble.
Back to top
Musicians take the stage
The Daily Herald
By Melissa Slager
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
MILL CREEK - Don't let their silly jokes and self-professed "band geek" personas fool you.
When it comes to music, these four Henry M. Jackson High School students are serious.
And come mid-January, Travis Abel, Janelle Arenz, Kim Frederickson and Nicole Gessel will be performing
with some of the nation's most talented emerging musicians - at Carnegie Hall.
The very name of world's most famous concert stage prompts the four to look heavenward.
"It's got so much history," said Frederickson, 18.
"So many people have played there," said Abel, 17.
"The Beatles played there, people!" said Gessel, 16.
"It's everyone's dream to play there," said Arenz, 17.
Now, it's their turn.
The four teenagers were recently accepted as members of the National Festival Orchestra.
Now in its ninth year, the program each year brings together outstanding music students from across
the nation for intensive residency training in New York, culminating in a performance at Carnegie Hall.
Renowned composer and conductor Lukas Foss oversees the group and will wield the baton at the Jan. 16
performance of "Titan," Mahler's Symphony No. 1 in D major.
Participants are selected through taped auditions. The four Jackson High students were the only applicants
selected from Washington.
"It's huge," said Lesley Moffat, the students's music teacher. "The majority of this entire orchestra is
college students who are music majors. And these are high-schoolers."
Arenz, for example, will be the only high-school student in her flute section.
Then too, it is rare to see so many students from a single school, said Kathleen Drohan, a spokeswoman
for MidAmerica Productions, which organizes the program.
The students say they owe their teacher a lot.
"She cares about her students, and when she sees an opportunity she gets everyone involved," Gessel said.
"No matter where they sit, they always matter."
Moffat, who also sent two students to the National Youth Band last year and a violinist to the National
Youth Symphony some years back, is hoping to be among the audience members watching the students
perform next month.
Meanwhile, there's no question what these four will be doing during their winter vacation:
practice, practice, practice.
Abel, a percussionist, planned to take home the timpani, also called kettledrums because
they are shaped like large copper kettles. "I don't know where I'm going to put them," he said.
Each of the four professes a love of music that goes back to childhood.
Arenz started with the piano at age 4 and later switched to the flute with the middle school
band. "Everyday I play, the more I want to play," she said.
Each also plan to keep music in their life beyond high school.
Abel received a $13,000 scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music in Boston.
A clarinetist, Frederickson is heading to Pacific Lutheran University, which has a good
music program, although she's not sure if music will be her major.
Arenz plans to attend the University of Washington. And after teaching a sixth-grader to
play the flute, she says she could see a future in private instruction.
Gessel, the lone junior in the group, has yet to apply to colleges. But the aspiring
pilot wants to attend the Air Force Academy and get into the orchestra there - which
could be tougher than landing on the stage at Carnegie Hall.
"Every time I play, I just feel relaxed," said Gessel, who plays French horn.
"You get stressed out at school and go home and just say, 'I need to practice
for an hour.'"
The students will be in New York for six days. Much of that time will be spent
learning and practicing. In all, they calculate they will spend 32 hours over
four days playing - the equivalent of 1 1/2 months of band class.
"I think it's officially starting to sink in now," Frederickson said.
Back to top
Singers go from Meier Hall to Carnegie Hall
Rapid City Journal
By Jan Kaus, Northern Hills Bureau
Friday, December 3, 2004
SPEARFISH - Thirty music majors from Black Hills State University who are back from a Nov. 28 performance at
Carnegie Hall in New York will be among 85 voices performing this weekend in Belle Fourche and Spearfish.
The university choir will give three free performances of its Christmas concert - at 3 p.m. today, at the Belle
Fourche Community Center; 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the recital hall at Clare and Josef Meier Hall on the BHSU campus;
and at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, also at Meier Hall.
Director Steve Parker took the group of students to New York at the invitation of Jonathan Griffith, the
conductor-in-residence for Mid-America Productions, who organized and conducted the performance.
Parker made a trip there in 1998 with a different group of students.
"They've been trying to get me back since '98, and earlier this year, they asked me if my choir is as good as it
used to be," Parker said. "I answered, course it is,' and now it's a standing invitation."
He said the students were part of a choir of 200 students from various high schools, colleges and universities,
complete with a full orchestra.
He called it an excellent performance and said it was a thrill for all of them to get to be there. Although Parker
didn't direct the choir, he said it was incredible to get to be part of the audience and listen. He had the
opportunity to sing with the group but chose to experience "how it all fell together" by sitting in the audience.
"The place was packed," he said.
BHSU senior Erin Talsma, said: "I totally cried at the end of the performance when they started clapping. I thought,
‘Oh my gosh, they're applauding for me at Carnegie Hall. Wow.'"
Parker said he saw a lot of people crying.
"When you think of all the greats, all the phenomenal talents that have performed on that stage, it's a very moving
experience," he said.
The trip was proposed shortly before the beginning of the school year, so Parker said he didn't have a chance
to submit a request for university funding - or at least aid for students who wanted to make the trip. He hopes
to consider it in time for the budget process next year, because it cost students about $1,500.
In addition to performing, the students toured the city and took in Broadway shows, jazz concerts, musicals and
the Metropolitan Opera.
"It really helped them realize the level of professionalism that's out there," Parker said. "And it blew them
away. That's an education I can't give them here in the classroom."
BHSU junior Joshua Stanton said: "Performing in New York is our vision and our goal, but seeing what's out there
really gives you a deeper motivation for what you're doing. It made me realize I needed to get home and practice."
"It doesn't do any good for me to try to force them to practice more or try harder, because I want them to want to do
it," Parker said. "If I can take them places like New York, where they can see these monuments of history, their eyes
open like you wouldn't believe. They come back different people."
Back to top
Orchestra conquers Carnegie
The Portland Tribune
By Eric Bartels
September 10, 2004
The oldest youth orchestra in the nation now knows firsthand how to get to New York's Carnegie
Hall: practice, practice, practice. The 93-member Portland Youth Philharmonic Orchestra did just
that and then sparkled in a June visit to one of the world's most venerated music venues.
"We had some audience members that were in tears after the first piece," says Music Director Mei-Ann
Chen. "It was the New York subscribers that gave us a standing ovation. They really appreciated what
we brought to New York."
Chen is appreciating what the Carnegie Hall stop, part of an intensive East Coast tour, did for the
philharmonic, which consists of more than 200 young musicians between the ages of 8 and 22.
"There's nothing compared to a tour experience for an orchestra," Chen says. "They not only enjoyed
being with one another, they really built a great team. They were able to achieve and improve at a
much faster pace. Some of them actually surpassed what they could do individually. They learned how
to work with each other."
Each season presents Chen, in her third year at the philharmonic, with the unenviable task of
rebuilding an orchestra that loses roughly half its number to graduation. Students rotate up from
the second orchestra, called the Portland Youth Conservatory Orchestra, and the smaller Young String
Ensemble, kids ages 8 to 13.
"The hard part of my job is trying to look ahead and trying to build the orchestra," Chen says.
But the 31-year-old Taiwan native says the challenge is offset somewhat this season by the power of the
Carnegie Hall experience over her remaining charges.
"They realized they could improve from zero to 10 in one day," she says. "They have so much
confidence, being able to play in such a prestigious hall."
Using lesser-known works, Chen has a goal this season to put flesh on the bones she assembled last
year by testing the orchestra with a challenging "hard-core" repertoire such as Igor Stravinsky's
"Firebird Suite."
"My part was to see how much I could push them. I wanted to see how far they could go," she says.
"This year, I have confidence that we're stretching in a very different way."
The orchestra's "Fall Concert: A Journey in Time," on Nov. 13 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall,
features works of Claude Debussy and 20th century French composer Francis Poulenc as well as a piece
by Russian Modest Mussorgsky that was orchestrated by Frenchman Maurice Ravel.
"Any French composer - think of perfume - they paint with sound," Chen says. "That is an important
lesson for our kids. The first program is full of color."
Students Judy Park, 16, and Jessica Shim, 15, will reprise Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos, which
won them the philharmonic's Bi-Annual Piano Concerto Competition in March.
"To see two pianos facing each other on opposite sides, it's more of a chamber music approach,"
Chen says. "It's like synchronized diving. The two of them have to develop the exact feeling for
everything."
Back to top
Choral Fest is a Composer's Change of Pace
Newark Star-Ledger
By Willa J. Conrad
May 23, 2003
As ubiquitous as choral singing is in the United States, the gentle face of choral modernism
is that of Englishman John Rutter.
Amateur singers will have encountered the composer's moving, rigorously constructed choral
works at some point. His Requiem is now nearly as popular as Handel's Messiah, a rare feat
for any contemporary composer.
Professional singers know him through the Cambridge Singers, a 28-voice professional chamber
choir that sets the gold standard of fluidity and expression in recordings and live performances
of works medieval to modem -- all conducted by Rutter, and often including his works.
Rutter, 57, is in New York this week, as he has been every late spring since 1988, to lead an
interesting amateur choral venture presented by Montclair resident Peter Tiboris and Tiboris's
MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall. Over the course of two weeks, more than 300 choristers
from high school, college, church and community choirs in the Midwest and Southeast have been,
in Rutter's words, "rehearsing like mad" to present six choral performances of the sort intended
to make the roof rise.
"It's a unique formula," Rutter says. "You only have to tell a choir from Iowa they will be
performing in Carnegie Hall and it's a great motivator. I think the hall has friendly spirits.
It's humbling and encouraging to know Toscanini and Bernstein, Heifetz, Rachmaninoff and Rubinstein
trod on that very spot."
Rutter and Tiboris, who has a staff of conductors who travel to prepare the choirs in their home
towns, pick the repertoire. This year's is typical, alternating several Rutter works, including
his new Mass of the Children (premiered in New York in February and repeated on Monday), with
masterpieces like Schubert's Mass in G and Orff's Carmina Burana.
Rutter conducts most, but not all of the music, but more importantly, he prepares the choirs
as they merge into one massive chorus. The soloists, including New Jerseyans Ana Rojas and
Shannah Timms, are professional, as is the orchestra.
"It's impressive to be able to work on such a large scale," Rutter says. "I can't do Verdi's
Requiem with 28 singers. Coming to Carnegie Hall, you get the most tremendous sound."
The formula of inviting various amateur choirs --Tiboris and his staff scour the country and
try not to invite the same groups year after year -- for a massive choral festival has been
so popular that Carnegie Hall itself has copied it (MidAmerica only rents the hall) in its
annual Robert Shaw choral festival and workshop.
For Rutter, the other half of the pleasure is working with young singers. "I have plenty of
opportunity back home to work with professional musicians at the highest level, but I think
there is something in me that enjoys working with young people," Rutter says, "to open doors
for them and show them what lies in the great temple of music."
There is the sense, though, that Rutter simply enjoys the change of activity level. "Composition
is a solo activity, a solo pursuit," he says. "I do spend many hours by myself, my family in
the background, in my secret retreat, my cottage where nobody knows the phone number. After a
few weeks of that, I'm screaming for human company."
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Tallahassee Democrat
Musicians earn national honor: Students to play in New York concert
By Andrew Dunn
April 21, 2003
Three Tallahassee high school students have the opportunity to do something many musicians only
dream about. They're playing Carnegie Hall.
Zac Cunningham and Jacob Jaks, juniors at Leon High, and Brad Cater, a junior at Maclay School,
were accepted as members of the 2003 High School National Wind Ensemble. They will travel to New
York in May for a concert at the famous music hall under the direction of H. Robert Reynolds, one
of the country's premier conductors.
"It's an honor to have been picked," said Cater, a 17-year-old saxophonist.
"Robert Reynolds is the most prestigious director of bands," said Jaks, 17, who plays the euphonium.
"And (Carnegie is) the most prestigious concert hall in the United States. It just blows your mind."
The students were selected to participate based on audition tapes and teacher recommendations. Only
76 high school students nationwide will participate in the concert May 25.
"It's a special place," Cater said of Carnegie Hall. "A lot of the best musicians ever have played there."
He added: "I probably won't ever get to play there ever again. I'm going to have fun with this."
Trombonist Cunningham said while Carnegie Hall is a great venue, he's excited to play under
Reynolds. He said the conductor, who is a professor emeritus at the University of Michigan's
School of Music and director of the Detroit Chamber Winds, was once a guest director at Leon.
"He's one of the most incredible people I've ever met," the 17-year- old said of Reynolds. "We had
a 45-minute rehearsal with him. I was more drained after a 45-minute rehearsal with him than after
three hours of regular band rehearsal."
MidAmerica Productions Inc., a concert production company in New York, sponsors the National
Wind Ensemble. Iris Derke, director of special projects for MidAmerica, said the main purpose
of the program is to recognize some of the most talented student musicians around the country.
Students, she said, leave with great memories and maybe a desire to study music after high school.
Josh Bula, band director at Leon, said Cunningham and Jaks were good choices for the ensemble.
"There's a lot of good students in band," he said. "But they are definitely among the top. They work
hard and have a good attitude."
Maclay band director Jennifer Corzine said Cater's self-discipline and musical ability set him apart
from other students. She said he has inspired those around him.
"I think it shows the other students that, even though it's a small band program from a
small private school, they can excel," Corzine said. "Nothing can hold them back if they
are willing to do the work to get there."
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Miami Herald
Music touches hearts, minds
April 19, 2002
Music, Candace Wicke loves to tell her students, makes you smart. It makes you smart because once it opens your heart,
it opens your head.
"If you open students up to what turns them on -- drama, athletics, anything they truly love -- you can teach them anything,"
she says.
Wicke is not simply a classroom philosopher. She's a teacher who dreams big dreams and then inspires her students to live them.
She is the choral director at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Southwest Miami-Dade. A little more than two years ago, she
envisioned her students taking the stage at Carnegie Hall, performing the world premiere of a work written especially for
them.
Two Sundays ago, as a hush swept over the 2,804 seats of the Isaac Stern Auditorium, she locked eyes with 138 of her
students, present and past, and 37 other singers who had joined them from Miami, and she signaled a rapture of Latin
that filled Carnegie Hall in the way that memorable dreams resonate.
She knew this was the big moment, the dizzying culmination of every bleary rehearsal her Lourdes Singers had braved
in the past year, of every hour they spent breaking down the daunting measures and quick-changing meters of Imant
Raminsh's Symphony of Psalms. No, she couldn't see the butterflies stirring beneath her girls' black-and-pewter
gowns, their ballerina-like "up-dos," and their matching cranberry lips and nails. But she knew they were there,
delightfully so.
They had traveled to New York four nights earlier with hundreds of relatives and friends, toured the city in chartered
buses, caught two Broadway shows, took in the enormity of ground zero, and, yes, rehearsed, rehearsed and rehearsed.
They will perform the complete choral symphony with local musicians and singers at the performing arts auditorium at
Barry University in two free concerts this Sunday, at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m.
Their journey to Carnegie Hall began more than a year ago, after Wicke, a music clinician and a 14-year veteran
of Lourdes, asked Raminsh, the Symphony's composer, if he could write a piece for her chorus.
This was no small request. The Latvian-born Raminsh is considered the leading choral composer in Canada, where
he lives. Wicke was not only persistent and experienced enough to catch his attention. She had taken a group of
singers to Carnegie Hall two years ago. She had also conducted his work at a performance at the University of Miami.
"I was very intrigued by how well he wrote for women's voices, and I thought he was dramatic and spirited," she recalls.
Then, when the Carnegie producers called to invite her chorus to perform on April 7, she thought Raminsh would be
her dream composer. And he agreed to write the program.
But performing these eclectic psalms would prove to be an enormous undertaking for her students. It's a nine-movement
work written for chorus, orchestra and soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists -- in eight languages. Besides the English,
Spanish and Latin of their familiarity, the girls had to learn to sing in German, Latvian, Hebrew, French and old
church Slavonic.
Add to that the musical complexities. "He uses keys with six sharps or five flats. Then he'll change meters every
third measure. And at one point, he breaks into double chorus -- you've got 16 parts going on at once," she explains.
Translation: not Alicia Keys material.
Wicke traced the learning evolution of her students. Their ability to read and understand music quadrupled. So did
their ability to understand everything from mathematical concepts to leadership skills.
"The experience surpassed my expectations," she says of the event. "I would look at my girls. Tears in their
eyes as they sang. It's a life-changing experience."
Certainly one that makes you smart.
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