Huntington Chamber Choir Sings at Whitman Mall
It's the holiday season all across the world and right here the Huntington High School chamber choir contributed to the season's spirit with special performances at Lord & Taylor and the Walt Whitman Mall.
How the Huntington group ended up at the store is an interesting story. Amanda Shimkin, who was a long-term music leave replacement teacher last year at Woodhull Intermediate School, told her good friend Veronica S. Mainville, Huntington High School's director of choral activities, about the event.
"Amanda gave my contact information to Cara Bernard, who is the special projects coordinator of the Young People's Chorus of New York City," Mrs. Mainville said. "The YPC was having an event in which they were going to sing some holiday music at the unveiling of Lord & Taylor's holiday windows and they wanted to extend the invitation to other choruses in the United States. The idea was that all of these choirs would be joined together in music at Lord and Taylor stores."
Mrs. Mainville decided to bring the elite chamber choir to the event "since they are my top group and could put together this program easily and beautifully," she said.
The group decided to sing a mixture of holiday pieces. "We started our program with 'Carol of the Bells,' a traditional Christmas favorite," Mrs. Mainville said. "We then sang 'Hashivenu,' a traditional Jewish round for Hanukkah. Next was 'O Come, O Come Emanuel', a beautiful Christmas piece. Then we sang 'Rock of Ages,' another traditional Hanukkah hymn. Last was 'Siyahamba,' a traditional South African hymn which was our Kwanzaa selection. 'Siyahamba' is sung in Swahili."
On a whim, the chamber choir wanted to sing more, so they performed "Bogoroditse Devo" by Sergei Rachmaninov. "I wasn't sure if the piece was ready to be performed, but they were very adamant about performing it because it is one of their favorite pieces that they learned this year," Mrs. Mainville said. "I was blown away by how well they performed the piece and so were those in attendance."
When the performances were over, the group headed to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. "The chamber choir is a very tight-knit group of students and we love getting together after performances and doing something fun, like getting dinner together and socializing," Mrs. Mainville said. "I believe that doing social things like this with students is extremely important, especially when they are involved in something like music and singing."
Members of the choir are serious and hard working, which is a good thing since Mrs. Mainville has exacting standards. Wherever the group performs, it is well received. Students carry themselves professionally and never fail to be exceptional ambassadors for Huntington High School. Mrs. Mainville believes the get-togethers she is so fond of result in a marked effect on the quality of the chamber choir's performance.
"Social events bring the students together and it actually makes their sound even better, because they are comfortable with each other and take risks with the music," Mrs. Mainville said. "I love doing things like this (dinner at California Pizza Kitchen) with my students, because they are such a great group of kids and I really enjoy their company. They make me laugh and definitely brighten my day with their beautiful singing voices and great company."
The Huntington student-singers gave an encore performance in the Walt Whitman Mall's main corridor. "So many people came out of the stores to listen and applaud," said Joan R. Fretz, Huntington's director of fine and performing arts who attended the event. "The acoustics in the hallway were amazing. They are really a wonderful group of very talented students who love singing together. I'm so glad to see such camaraderie among the students. They certainly enjoy Mrs. Mainville!"