All of the world is about to be the stage for Licking Heights’ high school chorus.
The students in the high school’s audition-only Mixed Chorus and Chorale ensembles will spend their New Year participating in the London International Choral Festival and performing in the London New Year’s Day Parade.
From December 28 to January 4, students will sing in famous venues throughout London and work with Maestro James Henshaw, chorus master of the English National Opera and Glyndbourne Opera. At the end of the festival, students will perform with all other festival participants and the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra at Cadogan Hall for London dignitaries, civic leaders and community members.
“This is an incredible opportunity for our students. Not only do the students get the chance to travel to a new place and be immersed in a different culture, they will get to perform in some of the top performance venues in Europe,” Dr. Meredith Smith, Vocal Music Director at Licking Heights, says. “It is a chance to learn wonderful music, work with professional musicians and directors, create lifelong connections with new and old friends and ultimately have an experience that will better them as musicians and people.”
On Tuesday, September 19, the chorus formally received their invitation to participate from Mr. Robert Bone, Executive Director of the London International Choral Festival, and Mr. Steve Summers, Chairman of the London Mayors' Association. Invitations to participate in the festival are extremely selective and only obtained through recommendation and recognition. The formal invitation ceremony took place at Licking Heights High School and featured a performance from the choir.
Senior choir student Ryann Schindler says with each passing day, the trip starts to feel more real to her. The chorus is currently working on the music they will be singing in England, and she enjoys both the challenge of learning new music and the sense of accomplishment from being invited to perform.
“I’m most excited to explore an entirely new part of the world, and getting to do so with some of my closest friends is even more exciting,” she says. “This trip will leave me with a deep connection to my choir family. We all earned this trip for ourselves and it is because of my choir peers that I’m able to visit London during my senior year and celebrate the new year there as well. I’ll always be thankful for the Licking Heights choirs for making this all possible.”
Now in its 38th year, the London New Years Day Parade is one of the city’s biggest events with 650,000 spectators watching in the streets each year. For 2024, the parade will feature over 10,000 performers from 28 countries.
The parade will be telecasted live by American Public Television on PBS. Follow along for updates and watch live streams of Licking Heights’ performances at lnydp.com.