Sixty-one DGS Choir students have been
selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City on Saturday, March 25.
They will perform along with several other nationally recognized high school
choirs.
The students were selected to sing
through Choirs of America. Once a
year, the COA president invites proven high school choirs to perform at their
National Festival in New York City. The invitation was based on DGS Madrigal
Singer performances last year at both the Illinois Music Educator’s Convention
in Peoria and the American Choral Director’s Central Division Convention in
Chicago, which were by recorded audition.
”The chance to sing in New York City is
a wonderful accolade and opportunity for our students, who were especially
selected for this performance,” says DGS Choir Director Laura Coster, who has
taught at the school for over 30 years and is retiring this year. Coster and
collaborative pianist Ricardo Pedroza have been rehearsing with the students,
including working on a newly commissioned piece by composer Randall Stroope for
the massed choir performance.
Please click
here to see photos and a video of the choir
practicing.
Before the performance at Carnegie
Hall, students will participate in a clinic at Queens’s College with nationally
known clinicians.
“It has been an exciting challenge to
prepare the singers from all grades to learn very challenging literature for
the event, and the students are working hard and are excited to perform outside
of their community,” says Coster. “While the trip will include several other sightseeing
opportunities for the group, the Carnegie Hall performance will most likely be
the most memorable for these young adults.”
