Carnegie Hall show once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for choir
Kelowna’s Spectrum Singers take the stage Sunday at Carnegie Hall
There’s the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup, the Rose Bowl and the Olympics. But if you sing, there’s Carnegie Hall.
And one local choir has dibs on this Cinderella story, which will take this group of multi-age songsters to New York City to perform on that illustrious stage this weekend.
It’s not that anyone singing with the Spectrum Singers from Kelowna pinned their hopes on ever gracing Carnegie with their musical talents.
It’s that they were “found” on You Tube by the American choral-spectacular producers, and asked to partake in the by-invitation-only annual event.
Program developer Katie Sims-Silvestre was surfing the web, “searching the world actually,” when her ears were attracted to “this choir, this energy.”
“They were so engaged, so involved in the music, so presentable, so adorable and created this incredible, great sound,” she said. “They were extraordinarily involved in the music, and Kim was just wonderful,” she added, referring to Kim Kleineberg, choral founder-director and a teacher at Mount Boucherie Secondary School.
Sims-Silvestre searches the globe for Distinguished Concerts International New York, a 10-year-old mentoring, educational and performance company that has had 35,000 performers from 41 countries perform at Carnegie and Lincoln Centre.
“I reached out to get a conversation going with Kim, and we hit it off immediately,” she added. “Kim is engaging, enthusiastic, talented and passionate about music. Her dedication shines through the choir. Spectrum Singers fit perfectly into our exceedingly high performance bar. I mean, it is Carnegie Hall.”
For her part, Kleineberg admits she is all about music and singing, the cornerstones to her life.
“I think we all had goose bumps when we found out how big this was — one night to perform with 200 or 300 other international singers on stage at Carnegie Hall,” she recalled.
“It’s a rigorous performance schedule when we get there. It’s called the Suite Sounds of Christmas, we’ll be performing well-known carols in five languages, Spanish, Russian, French, German and Czech.”
Her singers have been hitting the books since June in preparation for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and as in all of the Spectrum Singers performances, everything must be memorized as there is a no-songbooks rule.
Kleineberg forged the choir some seven years ago, drawing on vocal enthusiasts who auditioned to become part of the group.
A nod to her abilities and personal magnetism, she attracted many of her graduate students from her choral program, as well as an impressive cross-section from the community.
And she garners accolades from the choir general manager, Dini Steyn, who possesses her own long list of organizational skills, and credits Kim with a degree of “enthusiasm, skill and great morale and dedication” with the choir members.
In creating the choir, Kleineberg said she “wanted an opportunity to work with these kids again as adults, and also to provide another opportunity for a lot of people to sing,” she said.
“We’ve got a little of everything now, there’s kids, retired teachers, retired RCMP, a father and son, moms, singles — people who love all styles of music and just love music and singing.”
“The group has come together beautifully and the age differences have never been a factor because their love of music, and making great music, is universal.”
Among the varied singers are Jeff Saunders, Evan Orloff, Ralph Jolley and Harold Derkson who agree the camaraderie of the group spurs on the dedication to musicianship and “just plain fun.”
Most have been with Spectrum for four-plus years, some induced to audition by friends and current members of the choral group.
“We laugh our way through rehearsals, we don’t use music (sheets) so we’re always looking at Kim’s’ face and just have fun,” Orloff added.
“A friend got me to try out, and I really had no idea what I was getting in to,” he laughed, while referencing the rehearsals and multi-lingual songs on the choir playlist.
“I’m a shower-stall kinda singer — great acoustics in there — I love being a part of this group.”
All are beyond psyched to be part of what really is “just an imaginary bucket list” to perform at the legendary Carnegie Hall.
The one-night stand on Sunday is being transformed into a Big Apple experience for the group, who are red-eyeing it from Kelowna to NYC and tacking on a few of the major attractions while on their five-day junket.
“We’re all very, very excited,” Kleineberg added.
“There’s even an after-party that everyone is invited to, I have to see Wicked and go to the Blue Note Cafe, and everything else.”
Some of the gentlemen in the choir are searching out bow ties to offset their black suits, and Orloff says this opportunity is like “playing the Rose Bowl.”
Sims-Silvestre is also thrilled to have the one and only Canadian choir attend the prestigious event, although she had to admit not having “much of a clue” where West Kelowna or Kelowna or B.C. really were. “That’s so very American of me!” she laughed. For a chance to hear the Spectrum Singers closer to home, circle Dec. 8 and 9 on your calendar when the choir performs at St. Michaels and All Angels Cathedral for an evening of Christmas song.