The first episode of the journey of our SCAS Chamber Choir to Carnegie Hall in New York has just been released on Facebook. This is the first instalment in a 6 part short documentary that will follow the choir as they prepare to sing as part of a 200 massed choir, conducted by one of the world’s great choral composers, in the greatest concert hall in the world. It is the stuff of dreams for these students and the story has captured the attention of many in our community.
This November, 28 SCAS students and four former students will perform in the premiere of a major composition by international composer, Paul Mealor.
Choir Director, Marie van Gend, said, “Paul Mealor is one of the great living vocal composers. He has become the main composer for the British Royal Family. He wrote the original music for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.”
Ms van Gend recalls the bizarre moment when she received an email inviting the SCAS Chamber Choir to sing at Carnegie Hall. “I thought it was a hoax so I actually deleted the email! Then they contacted me again and I began to realise this was real.”
The students were elated to learn that they were going to perform an original composition by one of their heroes, in arguably the greatest concert hall in the world, and that he was going to teach it to them and conduct it.
This episode tells the story of the start of their journey. The second episode has already been filmed and will be released later in September.