Schools
Choir Students Ready for Shot at Carnegie Hall
Board of Trustees scheduled to address their proposal during regular meeting Thursday night.
Fifty choir students from San Mateo and Burlingame high schools will get to attend the High School Choral Festival at Carnegie Hall in New York this spring, so long as they gain approval from San Mateo Union High School District trustees during the board's regular meeting Thursday night.
The San Mateo-Burlingame Choir hopes to attend the festival from March 31 to April 4, during which they will attend sessions led by renowned conductor Dr. Eph Ehly, who has directed choirs across the globe.
The board will meet to discuss this proposal, as well as other business, at its regular meeting starting at 7 p.m. Thursday at the San Mateo Adult School, located at 789 E. Poplar Ave. in San Mateo.
The choral festival provides the opportunity for selected choirs from across the country to hone their skills under the guidance of preeminent professionals while attending clinics and rehearsals.
The San Mateo-Burlingame Choir was presented the opportunity to attend the festival after winning the gold medal at the Heritage Festival competition in Anaheim last year.
At the upcoming festival, the local singers will both have the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, singing as a choir and as a larger group with other choirs from across the nation.
According to a district report, music program boosters will pay the $1,600 per student cost. Four parent volunteers will chaperone the trip, along with choir director Shawn Reifschneider.
During the trip, students will also take a tour of New York City as organized by the Heritage Festival and Studies group, which is sponsoring the Choral Festival.
Application process for the choirs to attend the festival began last June, which included rehearsals in front of renowned choral director and program organizer Norman MacKenzie, according to the program's website.
Other business that will be addressed at the meeting will include establishing graduation dates for all the district’s schools, as well as an update on the district’s capital facilities plan and other business.
The board will also be asked to approve a field trip for district students to attend a civil rights study trip, called “Sojourn to the Past,” which will include visits to the National Civil Rights Museum, the Martin Luther King Center for Non Violent Social Change and other sites which memorialize the nation’s Civil Rights history.
The trip will span Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. The program takes place from March 31 through April 9, and is sponsored by Sojourn to the Past, a nonprofit organization. The estimated cost of the trip is $2,600 per student, according to district documents.
District participation will be comprised of 10 students from Aragon High School, six students from Burlingame High School, 10 students from Capuchino High School, three students from Hillsdale High School, two students from Mills High School and five students from San Mateo High School.
All students will be accompanied and chaperoned by staff from the district and Sojourn to the Past.
To see the entire agenda of Thursday’s meeting, click here.
