Judging by the silence blanketing the rear rows of a school bus
shuttling 28 members of the Gilroy High School Chamber Choir to the
airport, you’d never know theirs were some of the most accomplished
vocal chords in the country.
Judging by the silence blanketing the rear rows of a school bus shuttling 28 members of the Gilroy High School Chamber Choir to the airport, you’d never know theirs were some of the most accomplished vocal chords in the country.
Maybe they weren’t used to waking up at 3 a.m. or maybe they were saving their award-winning voices for the biggest performance of their lives – either way, the hushed, Thursday morning bus ride from GHS to the Oakland International Airport gave little indication of the group’s gift for song.
But in two days, these bleary-eyed teenagers will step onstage in one of the most celebrated concert halls on the planet. Over the course of its rich history, Carnegie Hall’s walls have reverberated with rock-and-roll, opera, soul, funk, blues – the list goes on. The performance many legendary musicians have described as the peak of their careers will be another line on these teens’ resumes before they even make it to college.
“I’m not nervous,” said Janae Lance, 16. “I’m comfortable with where we sit.”
Last week’s trip to San Luis Obispo to sing at Cal Poly was a good practice for this Sunday’s marquee performance, Lance said as the choir made its way through the airport.
Before Choral Director Phil Robb could put on his conductor hat, he dealt with more pressing issues, like herding 28 teenagers and a dozen chaperones past the ticket counter and through security without losing anyone just in time to board a cramped, five-hour flight to JFK Airport – another opportunity for his prized singers to squeeze in some much needed napping before a whirlwind five days in New York.
“You can tell how tired we are by how quiet we are,” said Anne Donahoe, 16, as she waited for her bags at the luggage carousel.
After a brief search for a missing bag, the group boarded a charter bus and fought rush hour traffic into Manhattan. Unlike the before-dawn bus ride to the airport, the choir’s second bus ride of the day crackled with excitement. Posing for photos and straining to hold their breath when the bus careened through the tunnel under the East River, the singers were glued to the windows, marveling at the rainy cityscape. Every so often, the occasional, impromptu harmony sparked up.
Pointing out such novelties as a row of pink, plastic flamingoes on a balcony, “New Yorkers,” and massive crosswalks, the chamber singers squealed “it’s just like the movies!” and “this is so cool!”
At the Hotel Roosevelt – a historic hotel located at 45th and Madison named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt – they unloaded a mountain of luggage and marveled at the hotel’s opulence.
“Twenty-five years and I’ve never lost a bag on a trip,” Robb said with a smile as he stood at the front desk to check three dozen people into hotel rooms.
The group settled into their rooms and grabbed a bite to eat before setting out on foot to meet Ola Gjeilo, the composer of one of the songs they’ll perform Sunday.
“That’ll be nerve wracking because he’ll probably be a little more picky,” Lance said. “He wrote the song.”
This morning’s tour of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty will give the students a fun breather before they get down to business, rehearsing with the director of the mass choir they’ll perform with Sunday night. This afternoon’s rehearsal is the first of several intense dry runs that will prepare the choir for their debut.
The GHS Chamber Singers were selected to sing as part of a mass choir that will perform six songs, including the William Tell Overture, a German piece and other selections. But unlike the other choirs, Robb’s Chamber Singers will, literally, have their 15 minutes of fame when they take the stage alone, performing four songs under Robb’s direction.
“I’m pretty nervous,” said Dylan Jensen, 15. “I wasn’t at first because I didn’t know how big a deal Carnegie Hall was. Now that we’ve learned more about it, we have some big names to follow.”
As a member of the basketball team and various other extracurricular activities, Jensen’s busy schedule is representative of many of the choir members’.
“They make me tired just watching them,” said Cherie Jensen, one of the many parents who tagged along for the ride. With two other children who have traveled to Japan and Germany with Robb’s choirs, Jensen said her son’s group is one of the most cohesive choirs she’s seen.
“It seems like a big group but it really isn’t,” said Carolyn Scherck, another parent chaperone. Her son Brad and many of the group’s other male members hauled the luggage from the carousel and into the storage space under the bus while the girls made their way on board.
“Look, there’s Central Park!” joked Brad Scherck, pointing out the bus window at a field full of spindly trees next to the highway as his seat mates laughed out loud.
Before the singers leave Monday, however, they do have a trip planned for the real Central Park along with other landmarks and Big Apple must-sees like a Broadway show, the Brooklyn Bridge, Little Italy and Chinatown, a Sunday morning performance at a church in Harlem and a post-Carnegie Hall celebration in Times Square.
