It all started last summer when student Gabrielle Cruz, who is a member of the St. Barnabas High School Choir and also plays the piano, spied a brochure about a program called “Voices in the Hall” on the desk of St. Barnabas teacher and co-choir Director Sharon Traditi.
“We should do this,” Gabrielle said. “What an experience to perform at Carnegie Hall.” And so, the idea began to become a reality with more students in September getting excited about the possibility of being on stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
A phone call to Steve Petrunak, executive director of Voices in the Hall, was made by Traditi. With the choir being as good as promised, St. Barnabas became the only high school and New York choir to be participating at the Feb. 19 event. After a videotape of two St. Barnabas choir students who also are classically trained pianists was reviewed, Cruz and Anqi Lu will now be opening the program playing a four-hand piano piece, “The Greatest Showman Medley.”
The St. Barnabas choir has been working non-stop since the end of September with co-choir directors, Sharon Traditi and Dionne Robinson practicing 17 individual choral sections with the students.
The Carnegie Hall program title The Story of God: A Journey of Faith, Hope and Unity will feature more than 250 vocalists from across the U.S., including headliner Meredith Augustin, director of music at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Manhattan, and renowned composer, musical artist Cliff Petty. The concert expresses a message of love, forgiveness and acceptance. The students will perform under the direction of famed religious musical directors John Angotti and ValLimar Jansen. St. Bernard Academy, an elementary school from Nashville, Tennessee, will also be participating in the evening’s performances.
The National Pastoral Musicians, which Traditi has been a member of for more than 25 years, fosters the art of musical liturgy. The members serve the Catholic Church in the United States as musicians, clergy, liturgists and other leaders of prayer.
This is not the only notable performance the choir has participated in over the years. In 2015, St. Barnabas High School and St. Barnabas Parish choirs were invited to sing at the Vatican for Pope Francis. The St. Barnabas High School Choir hopes it will be able to once again go to Rome in December 2023. Each participating student will be initiating fundraising for the opportunity to go to Rome.
To learn more about “Voices in the Hall” program, the Carnegie Hall event, on Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and to purchase your ticket, go to https://www.carnegiehall.org (scroll down to the Feb. 19 date) and be sure to use Code #STB39878.
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