Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
With help from the community, countless hours from the Yelm High School Choir Boosters Committee and a tireless effort from YHS Choir Director Tim Henderson, more than 40 students experienced a “trip of a lifetime” during a five-day journey to New York City that included a performance at Carnegie Hall.
After practicing and preparing for the performance for nearly a year, Henderson and several students described the experience in New York City as surreal, but ultimately a trip they’ll never forget.
“My message is very simple: thank you to the moon and back. Without the community’s support, this wouldn’t have been possible for all of the students. To have something come up like this is very rare, and to get us there was wonderful,” Henderson said. “It was the culmination of everything we’ve worked toward. It was an application of being prepared musically as a professional in that environment. We didn’t hear that entire work together until the dress rehearsal the day of the performance.”
Four members of the choir, Austin Hitchner, Spencer Cornwall, Cora Hobbs and Charles Smith, reflected on their unique opportunity to perform in the historic Carnegie Hall, which was constructed between 1889 and 1891.
Hitchner said though the experience of performing inside Carnegie Hall was initially nerve wracking, she’ll forever be grateful for the opportunity.
“It was life changing. It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. The bonds we made throughout the trip aren’t comparable to what we had before. We grew as a whole, and obviously performing at a world premiere was incredible,” Hitchner said. “It was a little nerve wracking, because obviously we’re at Carnegie Hall. It was a big experience, but once we stepped on stage, it was great. It was an awesome experience. Just being there with my classmates in general was amazing. It’s great being able to share these experiences because we’ve all been working hard to raise money for it. It shows the hard work and dedication, and that it all paid off.”
Her classmate, Cornwall, echoed the choir director’s sentiment about thankfulness toward the community. Without the generosity, donations and support from local residents, the YHS choir member believes the trip to New York wouldn’t have happened.
“I want to thank them from the top of my heart, the bottom of my heart, and the middle of my heart. I want to thank the community for everything,” Cornwall said. “This has been an amazing opportunity socially, intellectually, and it feels like a dream. I’ve learned so much through this experience.”
Along with his sincere gratitude toward the Yelm community, Cornwall also noted the trip to New York City was a great opportunity for members of the choir to bond and become closer with one another.
“There’s a lot to say about this trip. The biggest thing I wanted to say was that over the duration of this trip, I’ve seen a whole new side to my classmates, not for the worse, but since we spent so much time in rehearsal going through all of the music, we connected,” Cornwall said. “We hadn’t had a lot of time to connect with each other before, but on this trip, I just loved hanging out with everyone. There were a lot of opportunities to do that in New York.”
Hobbs said she was proud of her classmates for overcoming different obstacles along the way throughout the Carnegie Hall performance, and also described the trip as an opportunity she’ll never forget.
“The concert was amazing. It was much more challenging than I thought it was going to be. We had to adapt to the other choirs and the orchestra, and to another conductor. It was challenging, but it was very rewarding,” she said. “The trip was life changing. I didn’t realize the grand scheme of it until we were there with all of the choirs inside of Carnegie Hall. It was a year’s worth of work and it hit when we got there. It was awesome sharing that moment with my classmates. I feel like we all got closer on this trip. I talked to people, even though I’ve been in choir with them for years, I’ve never really talked with them before. We got a lot closer as a choir.”
Smith took a moment to reflect on just how big the opportunity to perform inside of Carnegie Hall was. Like Cornwall and Hobbs, he was overjoyed to become closer with his classmates in the Big Apple.
“People spend their whole lives hoping for an opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall. It’s great that we had the opportunity. It’s not something I ever expected I was capable of,” Smith said. “We’re a tiny little family in choir. I felt so connected with everyone. It’s like going on a trip with your friends, except you spend a whole year training with them for something intense. It was an opportunity given, and everyone there felt the same way. It was cool being with everyone who has the same goal and working towards the same thing. It’s huge. Everyone came from different perspectives and different starts but we were there for the same reason, the same end goal.”
