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| Siblings sing in choir at Carnegie Hall |
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| Written by Maddy Houk | Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 19 July 2008 | |
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“How could I not go to Carnegie Hall with my sister? We grew up singing in church choir ... .” — Karen Willard Patterson resident, singer “It was an honor to have her with me and be able to participate with me and my choir.” — Kathy Scripps Sunnyvale resident, singer When Karen Willard of Patterson and her sister, Kathy Scripps of Sunnyvale, were growing up, they sang in their church choir. So, when Scripps’ choir from Los Altos United Methodist Church was invited to Carnegie Hall in New York City, she asked her sister to sing with her. “How could I not go to Carnegie Hall with my sister?” Willard asked. “We grew up singing in a church choir, so I knew I could do that kind of singing. My sister had faith in me, and I knew I could do it.” Scripps said it was her first experience at Carnegie Hall and that it was “really cool” — especially because the two sisters went together. “It was an honor to have her with me and be able to participate with me and my choir,” Scripps said. After the months of rehearsal — and the 160-mile round trips each week — and the anticipation, hurry and scurry of preparation, just getting there was worth it for Willard. It was a magical moment June 29 when Willard, an alto, walked on stage and saw the audience waiting. “I had the privilege of being one of the first on and one of the last off the stage,” she said. “My nerves were fluttering of not wanting to be the one to make a mistake. How proud I was at the look on John Rutter’s face as he bowed to us. I knew we did it.” Rutter composed the 59-page “Mass of the Children” and conducted the 250 singers, who hailed from California, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, Texas and Canada. The group was accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble. The Carnegie Hall appearance culminated three months of practice, a performance for members of the Los Altos church on Father’s Day and almost 10 hours of rehearsal the two days before the performance. “It’s so gorgeous and just thrilling to be there and be able to be a part of this,” Willard said. “‘Mass of the Children’ is a piece of music with five movements — the songs are all intertwined, and they are all related. It includes soloists, instruments and (a) children’s choir.” Scripps, a soprano, also said it was an awe-inspiring experience. “Singing such a beautiful piece of music under the direction of the composer was an honor and a privilege,” she said. Choir director Shulamit Hoffman was invited back to Carnegie Hall to conduct next summer, as was the choir. Hoffman, one of 11 applicants for the Columbia University doctorate program in music, was one of three people chosen for the program, so she stayed in New York. After the Carnegie Hall performance, the singers took a dinner-dance boat trip in New York Harbor. The following days, Willard and Scripps and their family squeezed in a sightseeing trip that included the Statue of Liberty, Little Italy, Chinatown, Greenwich Village and Central Park. “We did as much New York sightseeing as we could pack in,” Willard said. In August, the 70-strong Los Altos Hills group, 41 of whom were in the choir, will receive a DVD of the performance and have a viewing party. “It was amazing, incredible and a total honor to be allowed to perform there,” Willard said. “Now, the icing on the cake with the cherry on top is we were so good, we were invited back. We’re going to go back next year, and we’re going to do a lot of fundraising.”
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