A number of students in the Holy Trinity Catholic High School choir will get the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall this April, and it is the opportunity of a lifetime. 27 of the choir students will make the trip along with Nancy Lawson, the Holy Trinity choir director, and an appropriate number of chaperones. The group will leave for a whirlwind tour of the iconic New York City on April 24, and they will return on April 26. The choir students will perform at Carnegie Hall during the National Vocal Jazz Festival which is being presented by the WorldStrides’ Heritage Performance Programs. Nancy Lawson said “This festival isn’t a competitive festival, it’s more for the experience. They’ll be premiering a work by Wynton Marsalis called ‘Abyssinian 200: A Celebration,’ and working with Damien Sneed.” The performance is open by invitation only, and students between grades 9 and 12 are eligible for consideration.
As the National Vocal Jazz Choir Sneed will spend time working with the Holy Trinity Catholic High School choir members at Carnegie Hall. The trip will include a series of workshops designed to help the choir members prepare for the big event on Sunday. According to Nancy Lawson the trip should be an incredible experience, one the students will remember fondly for years to come. Lawson said “I remember my father saying to me, ‘You know you’ve made it if you perform at Carnegie Hall. As a musician, as a conductor, it’s a dream of a lifetime. I wish I could get up there and sing with them. Some of the stuff they’re singing is harder than stuff I sang in university in the choirs there, so it’s forcing them to elevate their level of musicianship and I think it’s going to be an experience they’ll never forget.”