Choir selected for Carnegie Hall performance
A Coral Springs church choir has been selected after a nationwide search to perform a Christmas concert at one of the nation’s most hallowed concert venues: Carnegie Hall in New York City.
And they have YouTube to thank for landing them an audition.
The First Church of Coral Springs Choir will perform on Nov. 27 at the famed Carnegie Hall under the baton of renowned sacred music composer Joseph Martin, whose work they will also perform. They will be accompanied by an orchestra augmented by the Grammy Award-nominated bluegrass band Dailey & Vincent.
The opportunity for the choir, which performs Sundays and on church holidays and special occasions at the First Church of Coral Springs, located at 8650 West Sample Rd., came after they posted their rendition of Martin’s cantata “Ceremony of Candles” on YouTube, said Monica Berovides-Hidalgo, the choir’s music director.
Officials at Distinguished Concerts International New York, an organization that presents musical performances, then came upon the video and were impressed enough to contact Hidalgo and invite them to audition, said Katie Sims Silvestre, a program developer for NKINY. The rest, as they say, is history. “After I saw the video and spoke with Monica about the possibility of the choir joining, we sent the video to our artistic team,” said Silvestre. “To receive an invitation to perform with us at Carnegie Hall, the choir had to go through an intensive audition process. The artistic team at DCINY then recommended that we invite them for the performance based on their audition. We had numerous applicants for this concert, but members of our artistic board selected the First Church Coral Springs Choir to be included. The video was good; you could hear their hard work as well as see their enthusiasm and passion for what they were singing.”
Hidalgo said she has been stepping up rehearsing the 40-member all-volunteer choir – ranging in age from “high school students to 80 year olds” in preparation for the concert. “This will enhance our musical experience and it’s an incredible opportunity to learn,” said Hidalgo, who also teaches music at Florida Atlantic University.
The opportunity to perform with Martin is especially meaningful, said Hidalgo. “We love incorporating his cantatas into our repertoire,” she said. “They’re very accessible to the singers, and they are beautifully orchestrated.”
The invitation does not cover transportation or hotel lodging, said Hidalgo, and to help defray expenses associated with the trip the choir recently held a free concert of Broadway show tunes that raised about $4,000 in donations.
Linda Elko, an alto for the choir since 1981, said, “It’s an honor and a privilege to be singing in one of the world’s greatest concert halls. This raises the bar for us, and we are very fortunate to have Monica direct us. She’s done wonders for us.”
And Eric Smith, a tenor with the choir, said in the ten years he has been with the choir he never dreamed he would ever be performing at Carnegie Hall. “I never expected this. I’m excited and I can’t wait to perform. Monica is an excellent teacher and she’s brought our level up. She teaches us to sing better.”