Matanzas High School Choir students to perform in New York City's Carnegie Hall

The Matanzas High School Choir will soon set foot on the same stage that has hosted legendary artists such as Billie Holiday, Judy Garland and the Beatles.

Director Jens Oliva will take 16 students and one performing adult to sing at Carnegie Hall in New York City during an extended weekend trip this winter.

Upon learning the news from Oliva at the end of last school year, Matanzas senior Alexa Wingfield was surprised.

“I’ve never heard of Carnegie Hall, actually,” the 17-year-old said. “And when I told my mom, she started freaking out.”

Wingfield’s mom — who participated in choir in high school and will be performing on stage in New York City with Matanzas — explained the history of Carnegie Hall to her daughter. The next day, Wingfield went back to Oliva and said, “I understand now. I understand why you’re so excited.”

Matanzas’ group will perform at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Jan. 7 as part of MidAmerica Productions’ 41st annual concert season.

They will perform John Rutter’s "Magnificat" conducted by Rutter and accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble, according to a press release. The concert will also include a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Ode to Joy” which will be conducted by Peter Tiboris, general director and music director of MidAmerica Productions and MidAm International.

“Matanzas High School Choir received this invitation because of the high level and quality of musicianship demonstrated by the singers,” Tiboris said in a statement.

But Matanzas will not be alone on stage. Six additional choirs will perform with them: Bergen County Academy Concert Choir; Metuchen High School Concert Choir; Clearview Vocal Ensemble; Ridgefield High School Choir; Cranford High School Choir; and West Milford High School Choir.

“I’m excited. I want to meet new people,” said Hope Doss, a Matanzas High School senior. “I’m excited to make new friends because a lot of people are going probably through the same phase I am in life: they’re about to graduate, (and) it’s their last choir thing.”

Wingfield agreed. In middle school, she had an opportunity to perform on stage with hundreds of students, and she remembers the experience being exhilarating.

“You hear voices all around you, and you sound louder because you hear everyone, you hear all the parts together,” she said. “I’m most excited to hear the whole choir together with the live orchestra.”

In preparing for the concert of a lifetime, students feel supported by Oliva's direction.

“Our choir is absolutely amazing to be around,” said Lindsay Presiblski, Matanzas High School senior. “The energy and all of that stuff over here is just really good. Mr. Oliva is an absolutely amazing choir teacher. I would never want another choir teacher.”

Oliva gave all Carnegie Hall performers the music they need to learn for the concert at the start of the school year. As of now, the students are learning the music individually, but they will have group rehearsals leading up to the event.

“I teach them how to read music and learn (how) to read music, and so they have the tools already to be able to follow the music on their own and do a lot of independent learning,” Oliva said. “And these kids are smart enough and good enough to be able to do that.”

Nothing has to be memorized, Oliva said. But the students do have to learn the music and be familiar with the pieces.

Wingfield finds that repetition is essential, so she listens to the music daily on her 20-minute drive to and from school.

“If you keep repeating it, you just start to know it,” she said. “It’s kind of like learning a song in your car off the radio. You keep listening, keep hearing the song, and you start to like it, so you start to learn it, and you don’t even realize you’re learning it until you’re like, 'I know these lyrics, I know what this melody is, I know the rhythm, I kind of know what I’m singing now.'”

As for Doss, she frequently reviews her book and the sheet music while listening to the song to help calm her nerves.

“It’s a big opportunity. To go to Carnegie Hall at 17 is insane to me. To be able to sing there — it’s like a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I had to go,” she said. “It’s kind of like a last little hoorah to choir. I’m very nervous (and) I hope I don’t mess up, but I think it’s going to be a great trip.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Matanzas choir invited to Carnegie Hall by MidAmerica Productions