|
|
Globe Gazette "Show Time Has Arrived!" |
 |
|
|
Globe Gazette "Show Time Has Arrived!" |
|
By DEB NICKLAY, Of The Globe Gazette
NEW YORK - It's the big day in the Big Apple - when the Mason City Concert Choir takes star billing at the New York City Choral Festival at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
The choir is one of only seven high school choirs across the nation asked to perform.
The honor was not lost on these kids who, over and over, have said the highlight of their time in New York is not shopping or the Broadway shows, but performing at the festival.
"How many 18-year-olds get to sing at Lincoln Center on their birthdays?" asked senior Katie Whipple, whose big day is today. "What can top that?"
A clinic with Luther College Choir Director Weston Noble might run a close second. The choir met with Noble Sunday morning in the ballroom of the Park Central Hotel. Noble is one of four renowned directors asked to judge at the festival.
The reverence held by the students of the "grand old man of concert choirs" was evident.
And when Noble asked Alex Mejia to join him on stage to demonstrate making a song text come alive, Mejia looked as if he had been given a treasure.
Noble, 80, suffered injuries in a car accident just before Christmas and had to use a walker to get to the stage. But his strong voice and kind manner was evident throughout.
As Mason City choir Director Joel Everist took the students through a selection of "Sing Me to Heaven," Noble told Everist, "I believe this is the best choir you have ever had."
Everist may have looked as if he were handed a treasure as well.
Noble concentrated not so much on the singing of notes, but performing what's in the heart.
"You have liked someone?" he asked Mejia. "I want you to point to someone and tell them" through song.
The choir did the same for Noble, showing a respect and love for a man who enjoys music and understands its complexity.
Deb Nicklay is reporting on the activities of the Mason City Concert Choir during its time in New York City.
*This copyrighted article and photographs are reprinted with the permission of The Globe Gazette and are not to be reproduced.*
