More than 50 young Verde Valley and Flagstaff musicians have been invited to perform at the New York Invitational Music Festival at Carnegie Hall on Sunday, March 16.
After a YouTube video of Sedona Charter School’s Orchestral Strings performing Camille Saint- Saëns’ “Danse Bacchanale” at the annual Evening with Strings concert in Sedona was discovered by an administrator of the Carnegie Hall music festival, the school was contacted and the administrator encouraged them to apply and hopefully participate.
After Kristina Beachell, the director of orchestral strings at Sedona Charter School, submitted the application to play at Carnegie Hall, she and her assistant, Courtney Yeates, organized a group of 50 students, whose ages range from 10 to 18 years old.
The students come from Sedona Charter School Youth Orchestra and Northern Arizona University Junior Academy Orchestra.
Yeates and Beachell share the same teaching philosophy that explains why this opportunity goes beyond a singular lifetime experience.
Beachell explains the greater significance, beyond the event: “It’s very important for children of varying levels and backgrounds to experience the sound of playing in a larger ensemble, to build relationships and friendships that bridge our small communities together, to help inspire one another to become better musicians through a sense of teamwork, camaraderie and leadership and to use our talent to fulfill our responsibility as musicians to help educate and elevate our communities with quality musical experiences.”
By preparing and presenting their skills at Carnegie Hall, growth is cultivated through dedication and hard work. The students need to individually and collectively learn challenging music for their Carnegie Hall debut.
While they are working on their music, students are also striving to raise money to pay for their trip — the all-inclusive cost is just over $2,000 per person. Plus, there is the expense of the extra weekly lesson, provided by Yeates, that the students take on after they commit to join the ensemble.
“It is quite a stretch for any of these students to financially cover the cost of the trip on their own, and we don’t expect them to,” said Jane Cathcart, who is coordinating the students’ “Practice-A-Thon” fundraiser. “That is why we have a variety of fundraisers currently in place and will continue to work to find other donors.
“Practice-A-Thon has already brought in over $8,000 as students are essentially paid to practice after soliciting pledges for each hour of practice. Our 50/50 Raffle is expected to raise $20,000 with half going to one lucky winner and Thai Palace in Uptown is donating 50% of the proceeds from dinner service on Tuesday, Oct. 29.”
Raffle tickets can be purchased at Sedona Charter School’s office through October 31st. Donations can also be made directly online at SedonaCharterSchool.com/Carnegie.
The school has teachers and volunteers willing to lead area students to greater heights in the arts.
“She is an astounding individual,” parent volunteer Jolene Flores said of Beachell. “She has brought a world of confidence to my daughter. We are blessed to have her here in Sedona.”
Elissa Abbott can be reached at 282-7795 ext 126 or by email at eabbott@larsonnewspapers.com
