A group of local college students will get the chance to do something few people ever get to do. 38 members of the Grande Prairie Regional College concert choir have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York this month.
One of those students is second-year Bachelor of Music student MacKenzie Lowen. She says she’s excited to get a chance like this.
“This is such a huge opportunity for me. One day I want to work as an opera singer and in musical theatre and to be able to sing in Carnegie Hall so early in my career is such an amazing opportunity.”
Carnegie Hall is a national historic landmark and thought of by some to be one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world. Everyone who performs there needs to be invited. That invitation was extended to the choir by the group Distinguished Concerts International New York.
Last spring, DCINY was looking to fill about 40 spots to perform Handel’s Messiah this November. GPRC Concert Choir Director Tina Alexander-Luna says she sent some audition videos to the group and within about a week, found out her choir would be heading to New York.
“I kind of just applied thinking okay if something comes of this then I’ll look into it. I’ll see if even the singers want to go then we’ll just see…From the time I read about it, applied and then found out it was probably a week.”
The students will need to come up with the money to pay for the trip themselves. They will be holding various fundraisers including one this Friday called Manhattan Moonlight: An Evening in New York. Tickets for that event have already sold out. Lowen says all the work and extra cost is worth it for the chance to perform.
“I wanted to go even without considering the fact that it was going to cost a lot of money. I knew that I just really wanted to go so I would have to make it work. I was just very very excited because this is going to be such a great opportunity.”
The choir will leave for the big apple on November 21st. They will help perform Handel’s Messiah on the 25th.