> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > From the LHS auditorium to Carnegie Hall
From the LHS auditorium to Carnegie Hall
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By Courtney Llewellyn
Reminder Assistant Editor
NEW YORK, NEW YORK This reporter felt like a fool when she walked right past the famous New York landmark that is Carnegie Hall and asked a woman on the street how to get to it. At least the woman didn't reply with "Practice, practice, practice," as the old show biz joke goes.
Luckily, the choral group known as the Accidentals, hailing from Longmeadow High School, found the hall a bit more easily than I did.
Built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891, Carnegie Hall is one of the most famous venues in the nation for classical and popular music, renowned for its beauty, history and acoustics. Dozens of world premieres have taken place on its stages, which included works from George Gershwin, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Duke Ellington and Charles Ives. It is a place of legend. Only the best of the best get that once in a lifetime opportunity to grace one of the hall's stages and showcase their talents.
The Accidentals sang not one, not two, not three, but four songs upon the Perelman Stage in the Stern Auditorium last Tuesday as part of World Projects New York Choral Festival. They were one of only five choral groups in the world to be invited to perform at the festival.
The seniors of the group had a second opportunity to perform with a select choir that same night at the hall.
It was a warm New York spring morning as this reporter traversed the backstage area of Carnegie Hall, searching out the group from Western Massachusetts. They were in a third floor rehearsal space, perfecting spots in songs that were already so polished they gleamed. Kayla Werlin, teacher of AP Music Theory and conductor of women's choirs at Longmeadow High School, stood on a piano bench, guiding the 25 girls in attendance.
At 11:10, the girls were instructed to head out onto the stage for their rehearsal. As I took a seat about 10 rows back in the empty theater, I noticed that the choir only took up about 10 percent of the stage area. Once they began singing, however, they filled the auditorium.
With a backdrop of a grand gilt stage, the Accidentals a mixed choir of first and second sopranos and first and second altos lofted their voice over the empty red velvet seats to the back row of the fourth balcony. Whether sung pianissimo or fortissimo, their harmonies were so perfect they sent shivers down my spine.
How did these high school girls get the chance to perform at such a prestigious venue?
"We were chosen out of a couple thousand of applications [for the festival]," choir member Ellen Berube explained, "and Ms. Werlin didn't even tell us she had entered us."
Werlin said when she sent in a tape of the group performing to the festival organizers a year ago, she knew the group's dynamic would change with the loss of some members and the addition of others.
"I knew it was going to be a very strong group this year, and I'm always looking for an opportunity for them to perform in a space that will bring out the best in them," Werlin said.
It can't get much better than Carnegie Hall.
The Accidentals joined groups from River Dell High School in Oradell, N.J., Clovis East High School in Clovis, Calif., Washougal High School in Washougal, Wash., and the Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' Secondary School in Singapore for the festival.
What was it like stepping onto that stage to perform? "Honestly, it was jaw dropping," Madie Vivian said, literally dropping her jaw to prove her point.
"One girl cried," Emilie Ferriera noted.
And when asked how it felt to be performing on a such a noteworthy stage, Berube replied, "It's kind of overwhelming."
"Everyone who's anyone has performed there," Shelby Leshine added.
"It's such a huge honor," Olivia Buscemi said. "Some people don't realize how big this is."
The acoustics in the theater were mentioned as a highlight of the performance by many of the singers. They said Carnegie Hall was definitely better than the Longmeadow High School auditorium.
The group's four song set reflected the worldly theme of the festival. At the 1 p.m. performance, which was attended by about 300 people, the Accidentals led off with "Threshing Wheat Song; from Three Chinese Songs," composed by Liu Zhuang. Then came "Doubts," composed by Hilary Purrington, "The Tragedy of MacBeth," composed by Ron Drotos and "Te Quiero," composed by Alberto Favaro and arranged by Liliana Cangiano.
"Doubts" was yet another world premiere in the hall, composed by Accidentals member and LHS junior Purrington.
Werlin explained that Purrington first began writing music in her AP Music Theory class her sophomore year, primarily for instruments. Her first piece was for piano and most recently, Purrington's been working on string arrangements. Werlin suggested she try writing for voice and the Accidentals performed her arrangement of "Hide and Seek" last year.
"Doubts" had its local debut at the LHS winter concert and earned Purrington recognition from the Massachusetts Music Educators Association.
Purrington said the composition is based on the poem of the same name by Rupert Brooke [visit www.geocities.com/~bblair/brooke5.htm#P66 to read the poem].
"I was very inspired by the imagery of the poem," Purrington explained. "I imagine things through music."
She said she enjoyed writing this piece for her group because it allowed her to work with sound quality a lot. "The human voice is different from any other instrument," she said.
Hearing her piece come alive inside Carnegie Hall was "absolutely amazing" and "truly mind blowing."
"I am so fortunate to have experienced that," Purrington stated.
And, while most pieces for choirs are separated into four different voices, portions of "Doubts" are split into eight.
Accidentals member Nina Santaniello said "Doubts" was definitely the most difficult piece the group performed but that it was great to have its composer in the group to get feedback.
"The piece Hilary wrote is really unique," Elissa Houff said.
Werlin said in addition to Purrington's piece, she chose the songs she did because she wanted "music from the past, present, and in Hilary's case, future, to challenge" her singers.
Kirk Troen, vice president of World Projects International Music Productions, sponsors of the festival, said, "With music education as a priority, World Projects provides musicians with life changing performance opportunities and cultural exchange through travel.
"We accomplish this by producing music festivals, such as the one in New York," Troen told Reminder Publications. "For each of our festivals, we have artistic directors that assist us in auditioning each group. We place the final decision upon whether a group is ready for a world class venue with our artistic directors."
The Accidentals were and still are ready to take on the world.
"Music is a part of the American culture, and we think it should be available to everyone. The study of music has so many positive benefits. There is no second string with a musical group!" Troen stated. "Everyone is essential for every note and every phrase. Music is the ultimate in teamwork one person can make the group sound bad, each has to do his or her part perfectly. The study of music requires concentration, individual study, expression of emotion, dependence upon others and builds bonds that last lifetimes."
To learn more about World Projects, visit world-projects.com.
Before heading backstage to prepare for their set, I asked Werlin what it was like to see her girls up on that stage.
"There aren't words to describe it," she said, a huge grin on her face.
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> Features > Pg 2 Feature Stories > From the LHS auditorium to Carnegie Hall
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