Hendrix Choir Students Featured in Carnegie Hall Performance
CONWAY, Ark. (June 12, 2007)
Twenty nine Hendrix College students recently received the opportunity to sing in one of the world’s grandest concert venues.
The students, accompanied by Hendrix Choir Director Nancy Fleming, traveled to New York last month to sing in a special Memorial Day concert at Carnegie Hall. The performance was under the direction of famed English composer John Rutter, the director of the Cambridge Singers. His compositions include a well-know Requiem and a Magnificat, as well as numerous shorter works that are popular with American choirs.
Hendrix choir members were joined by more than 150 other singers from California, Oklahoma, Florida and South Carolina for the rehearsals and performance.
The concert was orchestrated by MidAmerica Productions, which presents soloists and choral and instrumental organizations from around the world in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall. Choirs can be involved through recommendation or audition.
The Hendrix Choir was invited to sing at Carnegie Hall last year but were unable. So, when Fleming noticed the 2007 Memorial Day performance schedule included Brahms' Requiem, a piece the Hendrix Choir was already scheduled to learn, she worked hard to make the trip a reality.
After receiving the approval for the trip, Fleming submitted a proposal and was granted $26,250 by the Hendrix Odyssey Program, which encourages all students to embark on educational adventures. Fleming said the grant helped make this once in a lifetime opportunity possible.
There was one major challenge, however: After the choir made plans to travel to Carnegie Hall, the repertoire they were to sing was changed from Brahms' Requiem to Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mozart's Coronation Mass.
“My first thoughts were, ‘How will we learn all this music?’” said Fleming. “At that point we already had students signed on and deposits paid. But they worked very hard in the spring, learning Brahms' Requiem for our concert and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Mozart's Coronation Mass for Carnegie Hall.”
In fact, they learned the pieces so well, they were given special parts for the performance. Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy called for six soloists. Instead, Rutter chose 18 singers to do those six parts, all of which were Hendrix students. Those students’ names were listed in the official Carnegie Hall playbill.
“I was nervous for the 18, but they did beautifully,” said Fleming. “I knew they were prepared, but you never know how it will turn out.”
“Overall, the trip was an astounding success,” said rising sophomore Kent Denton of Mendenhall, Miss. “Our performance was superb.”
“I was so proud,” Fleming added. “The students were really blown away when they walked out on Carnegie stage.”
When the students weren’t singing or rehearsing for their big night, they took time to explore New York. They visited tourist hotspots including Little Italy, Chinatown, SoHo, and Broadway. They also had a chance to visit “Ground Zero.”
“Everyone was so excited to have had such a wonderful opportunity,” said Denton.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college that emphasizes experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu
