The Abilene High School Singers, USD 435’s elite vocal performance group, has been invited to perform next school year in New York City’s Carnegie Hall.
As such, the group is planning a number of fundraising activities during the summer. One of the first will be at the “Swing into Spring Vendor Fair” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday where the singers will have a booth.
The AHS Singers and their director Danette Whiteley were invited to perform at Carnegie Hall by Dr. Julie Yu, co-director of choral studies at Kansas State University.
Yu will be conducting Joseph Haydn’s Paukenmesse (Mass in Time of War). Whiteley and the Abilene students will join other top-quality choirs in performing the composition.
The local group was invited “both because of the quality of musicianship demonstrated by the performers — a clear reflection of their exceptional artistic director Danette Whiteley — and because of an initial recommendation give by other music colleagues who recognize that the musical quality of this ensemble is deserving of MidAmerica Production’s attention,” according to Dennis J. Loy, conductor-in-residence for MidAmerica Productions.
The AHS Singers will spend five days and four nights in New York City preparing for the Carnegie Hall concert. However, their trip will not all be spent in rehearsal. Time will also be budgeted to visit other iconic sites in the nation’s largest city.
“The opportunity to go to New York and perform at Carnegie Hall will be amazing for so many reasons,” said AHS choir director Whiteley. “This cultural and musical experience could be life changing for some. I'm proud that the AHS Singers are being recognized with such a high honor."
Anyone wishing to support the local performance group in its fundraising effort may send a check made payable to the AHS Singers to Abilene High School, 1300 N. Cedar, Abilene, KS 67410.