Students will join worldwide musicians and composer Eric Whitacre to create the Distinguished Concert Singers International
Washington Township High School music students will have the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City with renowned composer Eric Whitacre when they join the Distinguished Concert Singers International next April.
Director of Choral Activities Joseph Zachowski heard about the opportunity from a video Whitacre posted on Twitter announcing his partnership with Distinguished Concert International New York City to hold a concert at Carnegie Hall for the organization’s 10th anniversary.
Zachowski submitted a recording of a performance by the high school’s chorale group from last year for consideration, a major factor in the selection process. Along with the audio, members from DCINY interviewed Zachowski on the group’s distinctions, accomplishments and abilities.
“The Washington Township High School received this invitation because of the quality and high level of musicianship demonstrated by the singers as well as the exceptional quality of their recording,” Jonathan Griffith, artistic director and principal conductor for DCINY, said in a release. “It is quite an honor just to be invited to perform in New York. These wonderful musicians not only represent a high quality of music and education, but they also become ambassadors for the entire community.”
“It shows the hard work that we’ve done in previous years was providing opportunities in future years,” Zachowski said. “I think that’s something I want to get across to all our students, that when you do something and work really hard at it and are successful, sometimes that opens a door down the road, whether it’s for them or people in the program after they graduate.”
Thirty-three students will be attending the concert on April 8, 2018, 10 of whom will be alumni at the time of the performance. Zachowski said Washington Township High School was the last school to be chosen for the program and will join 500 other musicians from across the world.
“It’s a combination of high school choirs, college and university choirs and community and professional groups from around the world,” Zachowski said. “We’ll be performing with college groups from California or a community group from Italy; it’s going to be a whole different mix.”
The concert will be split into two acts with 250 singers in each performance. At this time, Zachowski said he has not been informed what specific songs they will be singing or what act they will be performing in, however Whitacre mentioned in his video announcement that singers will be performing some of his original pieces, as well as music from other composers. Zachowski said once he finds out what pieces the group will be performing he will begin to schedule rehearsals to prepare for the concert.
“I just heard Carnegie Hall and thought, ‘whoa, we’re performing at Carnegie Hall, this is awesome,’” freshman officer and section leader Trey Jackson said. “I feel like this is an opportunity I’m not ever going to get again. I’ve wanted to be in Chorale since the first time I heard them sing, so this is a big opportunity and I have to put a lot of work into it.”
According to Griffith, the singers will spend nine to 10 hours in rehearsals over the three-day, two-night weekend event, however there will be time to explore the city and have fun as well.
“I am honestly so ecstatic. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” junior Antonia Brunetti said. “I think I’m most looking forward to working with Eric Whitacre and him as a composer. I think he’s awesome and very professional, so just to get that feedback from him and be able to sing his songs, it’s really exciting.”
Brunetti will be a senior for the performance and said she looks forward to soaking in as much information as she can get about life after high school and careers in the music industry.
“I think this is a good life lesson. Always strive to be your absolute best all of the time, in every performance and every time you do something because you never know what door that might open,” Zachowski said. “This is a great example of that. We had no idea last year the pieces we were working on were going to get us this opportunity, it just happened to work out that way.”
Students and alumni to perform at Carnegie Hall include: Rowand Barqawi, Scott Bonerbo, Antonia Brunetti, Kira Caines, Angelica Carroll, Joseph Destra, Samantha Grasso, Nikolas Haughey, Alexis Henhaffer, Trey Jackson, Alexa Liss, Spencer Lomano, Joshua Loomis, Stephanie Masapollo, Ivellise Morales, Zachary Romann, Marco Santos, Madison Shelburne, Amanda Watson, Janel Weeks, Bailey Weilhouwer, Paetyn West, Madelyn Yerkes, Cristina Corriveau, Julie Greco, Megan Kenderdine, Elena LeVan, Julia Lombardi, Alyssa Maiorana, Daniel McGee, Jessica McNamara, Katie Stella and Emily Yerkes.
Whitacre, Grammy-award winning composer and conductor, is known worldwide for his concert music and chart-topping albums. DCINY is the “leading producer of dynamically charged musical excellence.” For more information on tickets, group sales or other offers, contact boxoffice@DCINY.org, or call (212) 707–8566, ext. 307.
