Campus choirs continue their trip, enjoy shows and tour museums

Choir and ensemble take time to learn about history, space, and a variety of other interesting and fun topics in the American Museum of Natural History. After navigating the subway system, students explored in small groups throughout exhibits on the four floors of the famous museum. Many attended the planetarium show narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson titled Dark Universe, while others decided to find features from the movie Night at the Museum, which contained many exhibits from the museum’s collection.

Senior Matthew Oliver talks about his favorite exhibits and also shares about his experience as part of the mass choir.

“The trip through the Natural History Museum was an amazing experience,” Oliver said. “The two best experiences for me were the planetarium and he prehistoric exhibits. After getting the chance to go over our music with all the choirs here in New York, I’m looking forward to singing ‘In Remembrance.’”

Groups broke off to explore Central Park and later joined back up for dinner at Planet Hollywood. The restaurant is known for containing costumes from famous movies like Titanic and The Hunger Games. Students enjoyed a dinner as a group and ate a variety of food, from cheeseburgers to caesar salad.

Over the past two nights, students have seen two different shows on Broadway. The Phantom of the Opera and Disney’s Aladdin both enchanted viewers in different fashions.

Amanda Grimmius, ‘19, expresses her favorite parts about The Phantom of the Opera.

“I love the scene when Christine and The Phantom are in the caves under the opera house,” Grimmius said. “It’s so intense, and the music is phenomenal! I also liked all of the different ways The Phantom would appear, it was so creative, and I never saw him until he revealed himself.”

On day four, students and chaperones had the opportunity to shop in SoHo in Manhattan. SoHo is short for “South of Houston street” and gained popularity for the high end shops and chain stores lining the streets. Next to areas like Little Italy and Chinatown, there is plenty to do and see. 

Suky Cheema, ‘19, shares his thoughts on the stores in SoHo.

“I thought SoHo was amazing,” Cheema said. “I went to the Supreme store and bought a backpack. It was a really cool vibe and atmosphere and I would definitely want to go back and look at all the shops because there are so many cool things around that area of New York.”

Fresno Christian joined many other high school choirs across America in a mass choir. Students met others from a variety of places and enjoyed the fellowship of uniting voices. 

The #FCchoir and #FCensemble meet in a holding room in the hotel before singing for their first rehearsal, April 13. Conductor #RolloDillworth will lead the many choirs @carnegiehall, April 15. @fresnochristian #thefeather #Singinginthebigapple pic.twitter.com/tptCDz1WwD

— The Feather Online (@thefeather) April 13, 2018

Soon after, the group gathered back up along with many other choirs to have their first rehearsal with Dr. Rollo Dilworth. The National Youth Choir directed by Dilworth will be singing songs from all genres, including a spiritual composed by Dillworth himself, Rockin’ Jerusalem.

The Fresno  Christian choir and ensemble was joined by groups from Hawaii, Michigan, and many other states. Some of the other pieces that will be sung include Sally Goodin’, a folk song, The Music of Living, and Wanting Memories, a world song. All were pieces picked by Dilworth and most contain divisions in each part. 

The National Youth Choir will be performing Sunday, April 15, in Carnegie Hall.

To see another choir article, read Singing in the Big Apple, Campus choir take New York or see Choir takes New York: Day 4. 

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