Meeker High School choir asked to perform at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in 2017

MEEKER | A dozen students from Meeker High School have been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York City as part of a 220-person choir in June 2017. The Meeker High School Choir, directed by Jeff Hemingson, was honored for excellence in performance and musical standards. Dr. Monte Atkinson, director of vocal music at Colorado Mesa University, chose the Meeker group. “Dr. Atkinson was one of our judges at Large Group Festival two years ago, and also judged some of our singers at Solo and Ensemble Festival the same year,” Hemingson said via email. The students who will be participating were either in choir last year or auditioned and were accepted at the beginning of this school year. According to Hemingson, the group will perform Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem Mass in D Minor,” composed in 1791, with students from other schools all over the country. Carnegie Hall was built by Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest men in America in the 19th Century, at the suggestion of his wife, Louise, who sang in a chorus. The concert hall celebrated its 125th anniversary in June 2016, and has hosted musical greats of every genre and style, from composer and conductor Tchaikovsky to one of the most recent concerts, a tribute to David Bowie. Mark Twain, Teddy Roosevelt and Winston Churchill have also graced Carnegie’s stage. The choir students are now in the process of raising funds—$1,400 per person—for the June 2-6 trip (the concert will be June 5). The cost includes performance fees, hotel room and transportation to and from the hotel and Carnegie Hall. It does not include airfare to and from New York, or money for food.  The estimated cost for airfare is $600 per person for roundtrip airfare.  The estimated cost for food is $400, bringing the total cost per person to $2,400. “The school district is very supportive, but doesn’t have the means to wholly fund a trip like this,” Hemingson wrote. “We have several fundraisers in the works. We are planning on caroling at the hospital, both for Halloween and Christmas.” The group has also applied for a Fairfield Foundation grant and set up a Gofundme crowdsourcing account at bit.ly/2etd7Zq. Deadlines are approaching for funding, Hemingson said. The first deposit has been made, and the second deposit, $350 per person, is due by Dec. 1. The third deposit of $300 per person is due by Jan. 15, 2017, and the remaining balance is due by April 15, 2017. Donations can be made through the school district or on the Gofundme site to help these students get to the Big Apple and show off their talents on one of the world’s most famous stages.