Sequim Gazette staff

In the old joke, a tourist lost in the Big Apple asks: “How do I get to Carnegie Hall?”

 

The wise New Yorker knows the answer: “Practice, practice, practice.”

 

Lots of practice and the generosity of the people of Sequim have led the Sequim High School Select Choir to its upcoming engagement on the legendary stage of Carnegie Hall.

 

To thank the local folks and to run through a few of their best songs, the choir held a “Send Off to Carnegie Hall Concert” Sunday, March 20, at Trinity United Methodist Church.

 

An audience of more than 200 crowded into the church sanctuary as the choir celebrated reaching its fundraising goal of $67,000. That’s enough to pay for the upcoming trip to the Big Apple.

 

The program included Broadway songs, sacred music and solo performances by a half dozen of the choir’s outstanding singers. The choir performed several of the songs it will sing at Carnegie Hall as participants in the Field Studies International Choral Festival, which is sponsoring the concert.

 

The choir leaves Thursday, March 31, with rehearsals scheduled Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning in preparation for the big event Sunday evening, April 3.

 

Jim Stoffer, president of the Sequim High School Choir Booster Club, said the schedule also includes “about 20 hours for sightseeing.”

Reach for the prize

The choir won the privilege of performing in the concert by nailing down five gold medals in a competition held last May at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

 

In New York the choir will perform with “300 to 400 other high school students” who won in similar competitions held across the U.S., Stoffer said.

 

He noted the trip was made possible by the generosity of “the community of Sequim,” including a number of large donors who prefer to remain anonymous.

 

Stoffer also expressed his gratitude to institutional sponsors, including Trinity United Methodist Church, Sequim Sunrise Rotary, Rotary Club of Sequim, Sequim Grange and other businesses.

 

“And the parents,” he said. “It really does take a village.”

 

Stoffer said the choir’s bus will leave Sequim High at 6 p.m. on March 31. Those who want to participate in the send-off are more than welcome, he said.

 

The choir returns to Sequim late in the evening of April 4.