When Vicki Belnap, choral director at Olympus High, was invited to bring the choir to perform in New York's legendary Carnegie Hall on Nov. 28, she was reluctant. "I honestly thought we couldn't fit one more thing on our plate. I actually told MidAmerica Productions that I would not say yes, because it's too expensive. It's also at the wrong time of year -- Thanksgiving. followed quickly by Christmas."
But Belnap, a BYU graduate who taught at Granite High before joining the Olympus faculty five years ago, was invited to visit New York, where she watched a concert, met the people in charge and went away thoroughly impressed. She was also somewhat amazed. "No one said, 'Well, what do you think? Are you going to do it?' There was no pressure."When she was back in Salt Lake City, Belnap decided to consider it carefully. "I thought, 'Who am I not to give my students a choice?' "
Almost since its official opening on 57th Street, May 5, 1891, when Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducted his March Solennelle, Carnegie Hall has been synonymous with musical excellence. In a very short time, Carnegie became one of the world's premier concert halls. The facility narrowly escaped the wrecking ball in 1960, through the intervention of Isaac Stern and some other highly placed New Yorkers, and it has been renovated and retains its magical reputation. Any serious musician would love an opportunity to perform there.
So, when Belnap approached her students, they were predictably excited. But there was one major problem. Since the Granite School District has a $300 per student limit on the subsidization of trips, the steep $1,100 cost per student would have to be picked up by the students and their families. And without an official sanction by the district, the choir would have to practice for the concert outside of school time.
Through a fund-raising campaign encouraged by a number of parents, a third of the students in the choir collected enough money to go. Becky Bell and Becky Boucher, whose daughters, Jennifer and Lindsay, respectively, were anxious to go, spearheaded the sale of pizzas, pancake mix, tickets to shows, etc. The success of that fund raising, plus the ability of some students and parents to raise the money on their own, means 50 students out of the 150 in the choir will go to New York.
Belnap says there was a lot of sacrifice involved, including long practices every day after school and on Saturday mornings. She regrets very much that the entire choir is not able to make the trip. She is especially grateful for the help of Anita Sorensen, a music educator who acted as a back-up director for many of the early after-school rehearsals.
The students had six difficult classical pieces to learn well enough that the prestigious conductor, Linda Spevacek, known for 20 years as one of the most successful composers in choral music, could leave her home in Phoenix, to lead them in Carnegie Hall.
So, Belnap does the "grunt work," while Spevacek gets to hold the baton and receive the applause on performance night. Does that bother Belnap? Not at all. "Nobody in New York is going to pay to watch me conduct! I find joy in conducting, but it's not about where." Her satisfaction comes from knowing that her singers are well-prepared, and they will have an unforgettable New York experience. "When they perform, I know they will be prepared in tone, text and pitch. Then it's like the song, 'Show me!' "
Belnap, who is enthusiastic to the core, says, "I can't believe there is a more positively powerful medium than music. Sometimes in rehearsal, I actually witness artistic, technical and emotional perfection -- in room 302." She has powerful praise for both the parents and the students, who, she says, "are not halfway in anything. I guess that's why MidAmerica Productions selected them."
Speaking to the Deseret News from his New York office, Peter Tiboris, founder and musical director for MidAmerica, explained that these concerts have been produced since 1984. "We highlight the appearance of guest conductors, who in most cases have not appeared in Carnegie Hall. Then we invite a chorus from around the country to come and sing with them. Vicki Belnap has been known to us since 1992. She comes highly recommended by a number of musical experts."
Tiboris says the invitation goes to the choir director, whose responsibility it is to bring the best qualified singers. "We trust Ms. Belnap's judgment that she will bring the best people she can and how she determines that is up to her." He says that of 1,600 choirs that have appeared since 1984, 25-30 of them have come from Utah, including choirs from Utah State University and the University of Utah.
"We've had 294 concerts since 1984 that fall into the quality repertoire for young singers."
The choirs are complemented by some of the finest orchestras and soloists in the country, many of them experienced at the Metropolitan Opera. Once in New York, the Olympus choir will be joined by contingents from five other similarly youthful choirs, then they will be in intense rehearsals for more than five days, culminating in the concert with 200 singers.
Are they ready? Belnap is not sure the students yet have an accurate impression of what they're about to experience. "It reminds me of the line from 'Amadeus,' that 'There are just too many notes.' The Ralph Vaughn Williams piece, 'Fantasy of a Christmas Carol,' with all its meter changes is advanced math. It's pretty hard for student musicians."
But they are going to do it -- 36 girls and 14 boys -- and they are waking up every morning with tones and vowels and pitches dancing in their heads. Belnap says, "This is a high school group achieving the proper standard on difficult music." She loves what music does for the students. "It refines them. It's a lifeline, a rescue medium for a lot of kids, and it's a challenge they want."
Much of the reason for that, says Becky Bell, is Belnap herself. "She's fabulous with the kids, and they really respect her. She's here from 8 in the morning until 9 at night, and many times she doesn't eat. It's refreshing as a parent to watch her with students, because they come to her knowing they can talk to her and she'll listen. That, to me as a parent, is everything."
Belnap is clearly a perfectionist. She is fond of saying to her students, "You can have the most beautiful voice in the world, but if you're not on pitch, I don't know who's going to care!"
The challenge is huge, but Belnap is comforted by a statement from one of her favorite conductors, Jerry Ottley, "Success is when opportunity meets preparation."