LA Goes to Carnegie Hall: 2019

LA Singers Glorify Vivaldi at Carnegie Hall

Sabrina Ladiwala ’20 recounts a memorable trip to New York

April 25, 2019 (Day One): And We’re Off! The day we left was hectic! A lot of us were finishing projects and completing assignments, as midterms were right around the corner. But at 3:45 p.m., 30 members of the LA music community, accompanied by Director of Music Jenny Cooper, Director of Theatre Joel Sugerman, art teacher Dina Mordeno, and history teacher Eliza Foster, were ready to load onto the bus and head off to New York City.

Spirits were high, so we did what singers do best: We sang.

We practiced “Hold Me, Rock Me” and “Imagine,” two songs that we would be singing the next day at Central Park. Ms. Cooper conducting in the middle of a moving bus and everyone having to move to the center to better hear each other was definitely a new experience!

At 6:30 p.m., we stopped at a food court in Connecticut for dinner. It was nice to stretch our legs, sit together, and eat.

The rest of the journey was relatively quiet. Most people did homework, played games, or talked to the person next to them. We got to the Grand Hyatt in New York around 9:30 p.m. It’s a beautiful hotel, with several statues scattered across the lobby, resting in a pile of crystals. Once we were in our rooms, Ms. Cooper came by to tell us the plan for the next day. Exhausted, we called it a night, excited for the coming days.

April 26, 2019 (Day Two): Singing and Sightseeing First thing in the morning, we all headed to Zucker’s Bagels for a delicious breakfast on our first full day in New York.

Our very first stop was Carnegie Hall! We stood on the sidewalk, gazing up at the magnificent, Renaissance-style building with beautiful engravings on its façade. It was a moving experience to be standing in front of one of the most iconic concert venues in the world, knowing that we would be singing there in two days. We gathered around the poster for the Sunday performance and were delighted to see “Lawrence Academy Singers from Groton, Mass., directed by Ms. Jenny Cooper” listed under the featured performers.

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Later, we walked through Central Park and made our way to Strawberry Fields, a living memorial to Beatles singer John Lennon. This peaceful and quiet spot is named after one of his favorite songs, “Strawberry Fields Forever.” It has a beautiful mosaic with the word “Imagine,” from another Lennon song, in the center. The skies were overcast, but the flowering shrubs surrounding the area and the stately elm trees with their low-hanging branches made it a very tranquil setting. Standing next to the mosaic, we sang “Imagine” with the utmost respect. I hope that it made an impression on the people who were walking by or stopped to listen.

From Central Park, we went to Lincoln Center, which is home to many performing arts organizations, like the New York Philharmonic, the New York City Ballet, and the New York City Opera. The fountain in the middle was the perfect spot for us to perform “Hold Me, Rock Me,” and we had a lot of fun singing with the Metropolitan Opera building behind us. The sweeping staircases of the Met also gave us some great photos.

Soon it was time for lunch. Ms. Cooper let us split up into small groups and meet back at the hotel. On our way back, most of us got caught in a sudden downpour and came in soaking wet.

“Strawberry Fields” John Lennan Memorial in Central Park NYC

coming back after all. We were disappointed, but wished him well. This meant that our new director would be conducting us at Carnegie Hall the next day, and we were fortunate to be working with her.

Soon, it was 12:45 p.m. and time to get back to the venue.

Our show was at 2 p.m., with a prelude concert by another choir at 1 p.m., so we spent time in the dressing room backstage until it was our turn.

After rehearsal, we once again split up into small groups for lunch. It was nice to have some downtime.

Very soon, we were lining up to make our way down the stairs to the stage. As we waited there, I thought about everything that had led up to this moment: being introduced to Vivaldi’s Gloria in my freshman year, the many rehearsals throughout this year, and everything that we had learned and worked toward in the past 48 hours. We were all grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Once back at the hotel, we took off to the High Line for the afternoon. The High Line is an old freight railway on Manhattan’s West Side that has been converted into a public walkway with plantings of grasses and flowering shrubs. Since it is elevated, it affords scenic views of the city and the Hudson River.

The highlight of the evening was a private dinner with our head of school, Mr. Scheibe, and his wife, Ms. Montesano.

The food was amazing, and it was relaxing to wind down with friends and a good meal. Plus, it was fun to sing “Hold Me, Rock Me” for them.

Sunday, April 28, 2019 (Day Four): Showtime!

Statue of Liberty taken during the Celebratory Harbor Cruise after their performance.

After we dried off, or attempted to, we raced to the hotel ballroom for our first rehearsal. Meeting the four other choirs that we would be singing with made me think how wonderful it was that we were coming together to make music even though we did not know each other. We would be performing the “Gloria” in D major by Antonio Vivaldi, a piece for chorus and orchestra in 12 movements.

the tone of the piece. The four-hour rehearsal was intense, but very rewarding in the lessons it taught us.

We covered a lot of material with our first conductor, James Johnson. He worked with us on vowel shapes, balance among the four voice parts, looking up at the conductor more, and a lot of other specific points to help perfect our technique. Unfortunately, halfway through the rehearsal, he started feeling unwell and one of the invited choir directors volunteered to continue the rehearsal. After our break, we got a new conductor. He was really kind and gave us insight as to what to think about while singing various movements in the piece. He explained the importance of vocally emoting

Saturday, April 27, 2019 (Day Three): Practice, Practice, Practice!

After rehearsal, we had dinner and then went for the Broadway show Chicago. It was good to spend time with friends and bond with each other. After a packed day, we were all tired and crashed as soon as we got back to the hotel.

After splitting up for breakfast, we were all back in the hotel by 9 a.m. to report to the ballroom for our second rehearsal.

There we learned that Mr. Johnson ended up having surgery and was in the hospital recovering, but was hopeful to return for the performance.

In the meantime, we had a new director, and all agreed that she was amazing. She was kind, and her love of music came through in her conducting. She emphasized the importance of pulling through longer notes and driving the sound until the end of the phrase. Additionally, we continued to focus on balance and vowel shape from the previous day. At the end of the rehearsal, the event organizer told us that Mr. Johnson needed more time to recover and would not be

Today was the day! This morning, we were having dress rehearsal on the actual Perelman Stage in the Stern Auditorium. We got up early, ate breakfast, changed, and loaded onto a bus to take us to the venue. As we stepped into Carnegie Hall for the first time, it finally felt real. It was as majestic on the inside as it was on the outside.

After a brief backstage talk, we were ready to begin. It’s hard to describe adequately what it feels like to walk onto the Carnegie Hall stage, a place where so many stars have sung before. There was an air of reverence as we took our places.

I remembered the event organizer telling us that we would be adding our voices to this hall and to the list of many special musicians that came before us. It is an honor to become a part of that rich history.

This was our first rehearsal with the orchestra and the two soloists. The conductor took her place, and the rich sound of the orchestra filled my ears as we took our cues to sing.

As voices from the five different choirs blended together, it was incredible to see how far we had come in the past two days. The rehearsal went well, and we could all see that the conductor was very pleased. Ms. Cooper’s words of praise and encouragement meant a lot to us.

Then it was time. We walked out; the lights hit our faces.

The house filled with people somehow looked bigger than it did this morning, but the supportive cheer from the audience was very reassuring.

The 35-minute piece went by quickly. We filed offstage, relieved that the performance had gone off flawlessly.

Emotions ran high, and we hugged each other happily. We sat in the audience to hear the rest of the concert. I closed my eyes and just listened. It was beautiful.

After the concert, a bus took us to the docks, where we boarded a cruise ship to celebrate. The cruise took us around the Statue of Liberty, which was a beautiful sight under the setting sun. The food was good, and after dinner, we had a dance party! It was nice to finally relax and reflect on all that we had accomplished together, not just in the past few days, but throughout the whole year.

Monday, April 29, 2019 (Day Five): Heading Home We were up very early and departed at 7:30 in the morning.

Although no one wanted to leave New York, we were eager to come home and share our experiences. Since Mr. Scheibe had called a Head’s Holiday, we were glad that we could all go home and sleep.

After rehearsal, we joined our parents for brunch. It was wonderful to see our families and sing for them.

Aboard the harbor cruise – L-R: Victoria Luconton ‘22, Stephen LaSala ’21, and Sabrina Ladwala ’20.

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