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NEW YORK CITY – Chautauqua Lake student vocalists recently learned what it feels like to “rock” Carnegie Hall when they performed in the New York City landmark under the direction of acclaimed musician Deke Sharon.
Sharon is heralded as “the father of contemporary a cappella” and has arranged over 2,000 songs. Those not familiar with him by name are likely to know his work, as he produces “The Sing-Off” for NBC television and worldwide. He was the arranger, on-site music director and vocal producer for the 2012 Universal Pictures film, “Pitch Perfect,” starring Anna Kendrick. Featured soloists in the Carnegie Hall concert were Kelley Jakle and Shelley Regner, of the film’s a cappella group Barden Bellas.
With teacher Jennifer Davis, the students prepared eight musical selections and performed with over 200 singers from seven states, Canada and Australia. Chautauqua Lake seniors Genevieve Ellis and Alexa Anderson were featured soloists on the “Bellas Finale” medley. The other local performers were Alex Cummings, Lily Kates, Max McKee, Katie Meadows, Bryce Peterson and Ben Reynolds.
The Chautauqua Lake students had been planning the trip since the start of the school year. They met after school every week to prepare the music for the concert. In New York City, the vocalists had three rehearsals with Sharon and the rest of the Act I chorus. In the Total Vocal concert on Sunday, March 29, they performed to a capacity crowd of over 2,800 in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage.
At the end of the concert, the Act I chorus filed down the aisles, joining the Act II chorus and soloists on Sharon’s arrangement of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The audience joined in on the encore performance of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.”
“The concert had the audience out of their seats, with some songs receiving standing ovations,” reported Davis. “The energy both on stage and in the audience was truly electric.”
The event was made possible by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), a leading concert producer that provides opportunities for musicians from around the globe to perform on their professional level series in the most prestigious concert halls in the world. DCINY (www.dciny.org) has already announced plans for Total Vocal Part 2 in March 2016.