When the lost
musician stopped a New Yorker and asked, "How do you get to Carnegie
Hall?" he was told, "Practice. Practice. Practice."
Well, that is what the Washburn University Choir has been doing
quite a bit of lately, because on Sunday night it will perform at
the famed New York City concert hall.
The choir, along with its director, Dr. Kevin Kellim, and Dr.
Kirt Saville, chairman of the Washburn music department, were
expected to leave the campus at 5:30 a.m. today aboard a bus that
will take them to New York for final rehearsals and the performance.
Kellim said the invitation to perform came last February from
MidAmerica Productions, a New York firm that books concert series at
Carnegie Hall.
Washburn's choir members were invited to combine their voices
with those of three other choruses -- the Valparaiso Singers, of
Menlo Park, Calif.; Capella Cantorum, of Old Saybrook, Conn.; and
Wasatch Chorale, of Provo, Utah -- to perform Mozart's Requiem in D
minor, K. 636.
Leading the combined chorus at the concert will be Jerold Ottley,
who retired in September 1999 after 25 years as director of the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
The concert program also will include Kevin Riehle conducting a
combined choir singing Beethoven's Mass in C major, Op. 68, and
children's and treble choruses, under the direction of Francixo
Núñez, performing works by Bartók, Debussy and Vigeland.
However, the Mozart masterwork won't be the Washburn University
Choir's only time in the Carnegie Hall spotlight.
Kellim said the invited choruses also submitted audition tapes,
and based on them, MidAmerica Productions asked the choir to perform
a half-hour prelude concert.
For that program, the choir will sing "Exultate justi in Domino,"
by Andreas Hackenberger; "Shall I, Mother, Shall I," by Paul
Brandvik, featuring David Scroggins, baritone soloist; "Past Life
Melodies," by Sarah Hopkins; "This Little Light O' Mine," arranged
by John Work, featuring DeLynia Bailey, soprano soloist; and "Let Me
Fly," arranged by Robert DeCormier, featuring Joshua Dixon, baritone
soloist.
Kellim said the on-campus reaction to the Carnegie invitation was
positive from the start.
"The administration was very supportive, especially President
(Jerry B.) Farley," said Kellim, who added direct aid and some
on-campus fund-raising reduced the trip price for each student to
around $300 each.
The notion of playing Carnegie Hall came with some initial
disbelief among the choir members.
When Jason Lewis, a Topekan who just graduated from Washburn with
a bachelor of arts degree in music, saw the notice about the trip,
he remembers thinking: "This can't be right. Carnegie Hall? The one
in New York?"
Stacy Myers, a Topeka junior with a double major in music and
theater, said the opportunity meant another chance for her to go to
New York, something she does "as many times as I can afford."
"I'm very excited," Myers said. "How many times do you get to
sing at Carnegie Hall in your life?"
Myers said she and some other choristers already have tickets for
the hottest show on Broadway, "The Producers," which is nominated
for 15 Tony Awards. Lewis said he plans on a lot of sightseeing
during the group's free time.
Both expressed appreciation to Washburn for the opportunity.
"The school is great at supporting the arts," Myers said.
For the just-graduated Lewis, who is seeking a job as a church
music director, the concert at the world-famous Carnegie Hall comes
at a good time.
"It's something to put on the resumé," he said.
While the bus trip to New York will be split over two days to
ensure the choir arrives rested in the Big Apple, the return trip on
Monday will be nonstop, except for meals.
The itinerary reads: "Lunch on the road. Dinner on the road.
Bedtime on the road. Getting to know one another really well on the
road."
Adds Kellim, "It will be one of those times when we'll either
love each other more or decide we really hate each other after
spending a full 24 hours together on the bus."
Bill Blankenship can be reached at
(785) 295-1284 or bblankenship@cjonline.com.
