Carnegie Hall, constructed in 1891 by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, has hosted world-famous music artists from Tchaikovsky to The Beatles. For the past two decades, it has also invited the Marlborough Chamber Choir to perform every three years.
This year, from March 19 to March 23, the Marlborough Chamber Choir was invited to New York City to perform at Carnegie Hall, alongside other student choirs from high schools and colleges across the United States.
According to Choral Program Head Angela Lin, Marlborough students have gone to Carnegie Hall a total of three times, and choir students have performed acclaimed pieces such as Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Jake Runestad’s “Proud Music of the Storm” in the past. Lin believes the trip provides students with an opportunity to be instructed by professional chorists in a historical site of artistic expression.
“As a choral director who highly values the ability to travel and perform, working with other students, directors and clinicians, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to give our students these experiences of choral excellence,” Lin said.
This year, the Marlborough Chamber Choir is comprised of 18 students, all of whom performed at Carnegie
Hall. There’s an often-repeated joke that goes, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice,” and the Chamber Choir students took the “practice” part very seriously. This meant beginning their preparation in January and spending the entire semester leading up to the trip rehearsing. They were also expected to conduct their own practice outside of school.
Upon arrival at Carnegie Hall, Chamber Choir continued to uphold their commitment to practice. The students spent their time rehearsing alongside the other chorists with Director of Choirs and Vocal Studies at Clemson University Anthony Bernaducci.
Alongside the rigorous rehearsal schedule, which often entailed up to five hours of practice each day, they were also given opportunities to explore the rich culture of New York City.
“After [rehearsal], we would have some free time to explore beautiful New York City,” Maniya Arnold-Brownlee ’26 said. “We were mainly in Manhattan, so we spent some time shopping on 5th Avenue, visiting tourist shops in Times Square and watching Broadway musicals like ‘Six’ and ‘Hadestown.’”
Leading up to the concert performance, on top of the five-hour rehearsals, the students had an additional dress rehearsal with the orchestra. The pieces they performed included Mozart’s “Coronation Mass” and “Kyrie,” a five-minute piece of Bernaducci’s own arrangement. For these pieces, the students were challenged to adapt to new vocal, preparation and performance formats.
“When we start a new piece, we tend to write out the solfège for the piece before we start singing the words,” Victoria Bessant ’25 said. “For our Carnegie pieces, we did not use that method. We reviewed the pieces and also explored the musicality and the meaning behind them.”
Such challenges enabled the choir students to develop bonds with the other performers through the shared experience, helping them improve their technique and form connections. On the day of the performance, the students sang a total of 35 consecutive pieces before a full audience for about an hour’s time.
“Being on stage at Carnegie Hall was one of the most surreal moments of my life,” Bessant said. “It was so incredible being up there, and I am just really grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of getting to sing at Carnegie Hall.”
