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Members of the Nauset Regional High School Honors Chorus will perform this Saturday at Carnegie Hall in New York City. |
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Local chorus sings for its supper
By Melora B. North
Banner Staff
Members of the Nauset Regional High School Honors Chorus will be stepping into the spotlight this Saturday night when they perform John Rutter’s “Requiem” at Carnegie Hall in New York City. And it’s not the first time they have been presented with this prestigious honor. In fact, it will be their third opportunity to wow the audience from the auspicious stage where hundreds of famous people have stood before: Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Pavarotti, to name but a few. To put it frankly, it is an honor they are not taking lightly and they have been working toward it for several months now.
“We’ve been rehearsing for a while now,” says chorus member Brooke Spiegel, an Eastham resident and junior at the high school. “I’ve been studying at home singing to audio CDs. It’s a lot of work but it will be worth it. Carnegie Hall has been a dream of mine forever.” Which should come as no surprise since her grandmother, Eastham resident composer-vocalist Ann Diers, has sung there in the past. And she’s not the only one. Allison Beavan, director of choruses at the high school, has sung there also and is thrilled to be wielding the baton once again before her special group of songsters.
“These kids are all chosen through audition,” she says. “There are 14 of them and they will all be going. This is the third time I’ve led the chorus there. My husband is coming and one of the parents will also be coming.”
The opportunity to perform on the big stage came about in an unusual way. Generally, choruses have to audition.
“In 2002 we were heard by a college choral director — he was impressed, ” says Beavan. “He had a friend who was a conductor and the conductor invited us to come based on what the director told him.” It was meant to be, and so the tradition continues.
The group departs by bus on Thursday, returning on Monday after a whirlwind of activity in the Big Apple.
“We’ll be in rehearsals for three to five hours a day,” says Beavan. “It’s an incredible experience. To be able to perform a major work with an orchestra and be conducted by a prestigious conductor [David Thye], you can’t duplicate that here. The level of performance quality is really astounding.” And they won’t be alone; 10 college choruses and one other high school chorus will join them. The event is indeed a dream come true for the students, who have worked hard to achieve this accomplishment.
“It won’t be all work,” says Beavan. “We’re going to attend an opera, ‘Madama Butterfly.’ The kids chose the opera. I was very pleased with their choice.”
The Cape contingent is also planning to catch a Broadway show, and the kids voted to go to a Cuban restaurant to sample a new-to-them ethnic taste. Other activities will include a swing through the American Museum of Natural History, a harbor cruise around the Statue of Liberty after the performance, complete with dinner and dancing with their colleagues, and a farewell skate at Rockefeller Center before boarding the bus to head home.
“We’re gonna be tired,” says Beavan. “It’s going to be a very full, very rich experience. It’s a lot of work and then it’s over, but the process is the education.”
The trip isn’t going to be an inexpensive one; in fact, each student will be paying about $1,000 for the experience.
“We’ve raised a lot of money through performances,” says Beavan. “The Nauset Newcomers gave a very large donation. We are very grateful.”
They were also grateful last time they went to New York when a local benefactor took pity on the always-hungry teens and arranged for his city chef to prepare a special dinner for them in a private dining room at Trump Towers, where he keeps an apartment.
“I never met him before,” says Beavan. “He heard about the experience and insisted on arranging the dinner. It was thrilling for the kids.”
More thrills promise to come as the kids descend on New York in full force this weekend, their tuxes and formal dresses in tow, revved up for an eventful stay at the Grand Hyatt.
“It’s going to be so much fun,” says Spiegel. “I’ll be sharing a room with three other girls. We’re all pretty close within the group. That’s important. My family and friends will be coming. It’s going to be an amazing experience.”
mnorth@provincetownbanner.com
Contributions to the Nauset Regional High School Honors Chorus may be sent to N.R.H.S., P.O. Box 1887, North Eastham, MA 02651.
mnorth@provincetownbanner.com
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Mar 6th, 2008