MASON CITY - The Mason City High School Concert Choir will be "Live from New York" during its appearance in the Big Apple.

Globe Gazette education reporter Deb Nicklay will be the guest of the choir and its booster club, the Choral Music Guild.

She will file daily stories and photographs of the choir's activities during its visit to New York.

Along with performing, the choir plans to tour Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, NBC Studios, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other sites of interest.

The culminating event will be the choir's appearance at Lincoln Center during the New York Choral Festival.

The choir will be only one of seven invited to perform at the festival, and holds the "star spot" on the program - as the last choir to perform during the concert.

Rewarding excellence

This year marks the 10th anniversary of national recognition for the Mason City High School Concert Choir.

Since 1993, the choir has taken top placings at nationally recognized events, which lead to invitations such as the New York Choral Festival and appearances at Lincoln Center.

The choir has taken gold or first place at various festivals, with appearances at Carnegie Hall, Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the Kennedy Center and State Department event with Vice President Al Gore, as well as the group's first Lincoln Center appearance, in 2001.

Each year since 1956, the choir has received the highest rating a high school choir can achieve during Iowa high school choir competitions, said director Joel Everist.

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