Wheaton North music groups set to perform at Lincoln Center
Amy Nooden didn't waste much time when she received the e-mail a year ago.
The choral groups she directs at Wheaton North High School were invited to travel to New York City to participate in a Palm Sunday concert at the internationally known Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.
There was just one very big catch.
The students would have to perform Franz Josef Haydn's "Mass No. 12 in B flat" - a nearly hourlong Mass sung entirely in Latin.
Latin?
No problem, Nooden thought. She accepted the invitation as soon as her principal gave her the OK.
"This is such an opportunity of a lifetime that I couldn't say no," she said. "I just said, 'Yes. I'll figure out a way to get these kids singing Haydn.' "
So when her students got a look at the 100-page book of music and questioned whether the Mass was above their singing level, Nooden assured them they absolutely could do it.
"I believe anyone can sing," she said. "It just takes hard work. And, boy, did these poor people work hard."
Nooden's faith in her students has paid off.
After months of practice, nearly 40 members from Wheaton North's Chamber, Treble, and Men's choirs performed the Mass for the first time in public during a warmup concert last week.
They are planning to leave Wednesday on a five-day trip to New York.
Days of practices will culminate with the April 5 concert, where the Wheaton North students will be part of a festival chorus. Joining them in that larger chorus will be other selected choirs and students from Northern Illinois University's School of Music. A professional symphony orchestra will perform with the chorus.
Senior Sean Ohlman knows it will be a challenging experience.
"The Mass is just very difficult," said Ohlman, who's a member of Wheaton North's Men's Choir. "You need a huge range to be able to sing that. And it just takes a lot of talent and lot of hard work to do it."
Still, Ohlman and his fellow choir members say they are excited about the opportunity.
"Everyone was so scared at first," said junior Samantha Long, a member of the Chamber Choir. "But we worked on it, and we just did it for our concert.
"Now we feel so confident," she added. "We're ready to work with the NIU students to make it a great performance."
Nooden, who is in her second year at Wheaton North, said the choirs have performed concerts at the school and around the community. But the New York concert is "very, unique," she said. Eric Johnson from NIU extended the invitation for Wheaton North to participate in the performance.
"This is a huge deal," Nooden said.
Considered to be one of the world's greatest concert halls, Avery Fisher Hall is part of Lincoln Center, along with the Metropolitan Opera House and the Julliard School of Music.
"This week it kind of hit me," said Meagan Bruck, a junior who's part of the Chamber Choir. "Just being in Lincoln Center and being able to sing with professionals, to me, is really exciting. I can't wait."