Posted: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 12:00 am
LHS Choir sings in Carnegie Hall
By Michelle Steinhebel, Lebanon Express writer
Two local high school choirs took home honors in separate performances last month.
The Lebanon High School Chamber Choir traveled to New York last month, where students sang in a concert in the legendary Carnegie Hall.
About 18 students - sophomores to seniors - went on the trip.
The school was given a plaque commemorating their participation in the concert.
The choir sang seven pieces with more than 200 other students from all over the country, under the direction of Andre Thomas.
"They had to learn all of their music before they went. It all had to be memorized and ready to go before they got to New York," said Kevin Wong, LHS choir director. "We spent a couple of months preparing them for that on top of doing everything else."
Students spent two days rehearsing for the concert, then performed on Sunday evening.
"It was a pretty full house," Wong said.
One student, LHS junior Joe Chaney, even performed a solo at the concert.
"He auditioned in front of his peers and got it. It was the intro to a song called 'Noel' - a traditional African song," said Wong.
The students started fundraising last summer for the trip.
Students left March 26 and got back four days later.
Although the focus was on the Carnegie Hall performance, they were able to squeeze in a bit of sight-seeing.
"We went to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Times Square," Wong said.
ELCA at competition
East Linn Christian Academy also went on a choir trip to Federal Way, Wash., on March 19 and 20.
The school choir performed with about 20 other schools from the Pacific Northwest.
Thirty-three students traveled to Washington for the performance and captured first place in the small school choir category. Schools with a high school population of 150 or less were considered a small school.
"We took first place with the song called 'Great God A'Mighty,' written by Kirby Shaw," said Jenni Grove, ELCA school choir director.
Megan Knox, a junior, was selected to sing a solo during a performance in which all 600-plus students at the festival sang together.
"She was one of two to do a solo," Grove said. Knox's solo was part of the song "God is Able."
This year there are 16 men out of 33 students in the choir, which is an increase from years past.
"That's an unusual amount of men for a small school. It's been a really great year," Grove said.
The school has taken home honors from competitions the last few years.
"It's really nice to see the success with the kids. Two years in a row we've taken a first-place position," Grove said