Carnegie Chronicles
Day One: Friday - Our flights were slightly delayed on
both ends. The students' white Orchestra shirts brought up
many positive comments and congratulations from fellow
passengers (plus it was easy to spot our group!) Touchdown
into JFK, then the ride to the City with excited students
seeing the New York skyline getting closer and closer. The
drive to the Sheraton Towers took us past many well-known
sites. We had dinner, then went to the Top of the Rock, a
seventy-storey skyscraper with fantastic views of the City.
Day Two: Saturday - Up early for breakfast. Coach tour
with a ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island,
then back on the bus to Ground Zero. The Statue of Liberty
was an amazing sight up close; lots of cameras clicking
away. Ellis Island gave the students an opportunity to look
up relatives and generate an interest in the past. Ground
Zero was a sobering event with a moving sculpture made out
of the scrap metal of the wreckage. Several group activities
followed to view sights of Midtown Manhattan, Central Park,
New York Library, (yes, our kids wanted to visit the New
York library!), St. Patrick's Cathedral, and get familiar
with the surroundings.
The talents of our students were put to test at Spotlight
Live on Broadway, an interactive singing/dinner club. Our
students were not shy, and displayed vocal talents and dance
steps that were broadcast live on a huge screen in Times
Square! The grand finale of Mr. Hannan and several students
performing "Bye, Bye, Bye" was priceless, never to be
forgotten. (Copies of the video available for sale -- just
kidding, John! -- JZ)
Day Three - Sunday: Students rallied up for an early
breakfast, short walk to NBC Studios, for an hour-long tour,
and got to play weather and news anchors. A very smoothly
orchestrated ;) subway ride to Greenwich Village, China
Town, and Little Italy produced lots of tired feet and lots
of memories.
Dinner was at John's Pizzaria, a beautifully restored old
church with a stained-glass dome. The thin crust style of
pizza and calzones, that kept coming out of the brick ovens,
were proclaimed the "best we've ever had."
On the way back to the hotel, groups visited Times
Square, Apple Store, and FAO Schwarz. Another group saw
Spamalot.
Day Four - Monday: What a start to the morning! A 50's
style diner, Ellen's Stardust Diner, has a singing waitstaff
with Broadway-quality voices. Our students got pumped up for
a day of music. First they received an hour-long clinic with
a famed conductor to run through "Rhapsody in Blue." Then it
was on to the IBM Atrium near Trump Tower. They came to play
their hearts out at the "Pops" Concert, and they did! One
comment heard from a passerby who stopped in the huge atrium
demanding an encore was "New Yorkers are jaded, but I was
moved to tears by your performance." A man was overheard
telling his Fourth-grade daughter, "Do you see how good you
can become if you continue playing your flute?" A woman said
she used to play a clarinet in 1962 and was amazed and
thrilled to see young people exposed to culture and the
arts.
The Spirit Cruise on the Hudson River offered spectacular
views of the New York skyline as dusk fell and the city
lights began to sparkle. Our students have remarkable
dancing talents and a good time was had by all.
Day 5-Tuesday: Walk to Breakfast at the Cranberry Deli,
lots of fruit! Loaded buses for the Upper Midtown
Greyline Tour. Our tour guides were classic "New Yawkers"
who had us practicing how to pronounce "what" for
"water". The bus tour dropped us off in Central Park
first to see the "Imagine" John Lennon memorial in
Strawberry Fields. Since many of our students are Beatle
fans along with the adults, it was a moving tribute to
see. Onward to many impressive sights such as the Angel
Fountain made famous in the "Producers", and a Central
Park bridge made famous in Spider Man Three. Several of
our students knew who the statue of Daniel Webster was,
much to the astonishment of our tour guide. Surrounded
by the oasis of trees was a respite from seeing the many
skyscrapers, taxi and bus traffic, sounds of the subway
and street vendors. Some students and chaperones managed
to squeeze in last minute sightseeing at the Natural
History Museum or catch up on shopping. The performance
of "Wicked " was fantastic, just to see the magnificent
stage props, hear the orchestra and get lost in the
lives of the good witch and bad witch was another
sensory and visual experience. Off to bed to sleep in
for the big day at Carnegie Hall tomorrow.
Day 6-Wednesday: Walk to Carnegie for our first view of
this hallowed icon. We watched the first three groups
from LA, Iowa, and North Carolina perform their
afternoon pieces. Back to the hotel area for dinner,
then the excitement kicked in with getting ready, sewing
last minute dress adjustments, loaning out the forgotten
bowties, cummerbunds and studs to the boys. With all
dressed and looking their finest (Chaperones and
families included!), we walked the three blocks with the
instruments to Carnegie Hall. The students were led in a
side door by World Projects for their sound check, and
reappeared out front for a group shot. the students
outwardly appeared very calm and collected, and our
hearts were bursting with pride and happiness watching
them. Finally 8:00pm rolled around and MVHS Symphony
Orchestra was announced and they filed from backstage to
take their spots. In one row at least, there was not a
dry eye in the Hall as we watched the culmination of all
the hard work of these students play out on stage. Mr.
Hannan lifted his baton and you could have heard a pin
drop. "L'Italiana in Algeri" by Rossini was followed by
"Mars" composed by Holst, then a finale of "Rhapsody in
Blue" by Gershwin. Musically, it couldn't have sounded
better to our ears. The acoustics in the Hall were
unbelievable, viewing the white with gold gilded walls,
and sitting in the red velvet chairs was a sensory
delight. As one student said later, when looking up at
the ceiling, it felt like he was in "heaven". It was
hard to come down from this experience and the adrenalin
was flowing. Most everyone stayed up until it was time
to load the coaches for a ride to the airport, laughing
and talking and joining in on recounting all the
experiences of the past 6 days. We bused into the front
of MVHS school right as school was closing for the
summer, with student chants of "Hannan", "Hannan" to
show appreciation of a great Orchestra leader. Thanks
for everything teachers, students, chaperones and
parents. Most of all, thank you Mr. Hannan for going the
extra mile to make this the experience of a lifetime for
our students.
Chris Rottenberg
http://marketplace.kodakgallery.com/mvhsmusic/orchestra?view=1
More
pictures here...
