When Timothy Henderson interviewed for the choir director position at Yelm High School (YHS) in 2013, former Yelm Community Schools Superintendent Brian Wharton asked him what his ultimate goals would be for a choir program.
“I would love to be so good and consistent with our sound that we get invited to go sing at Carnegie Hall,” Henderson replied.
Mission accomplished.
The YHS Chamber Choir was invited to perform with musicians from Central Arkansas University and the University of Nebraska-Kearney in a world premiere concert of a 35-minute piece by Mexican composer Julio Morales at Carnegie Hall in New York City next year.
The six-movement performance, titled “Xantolo,” will feature a mixed choir and full orchestra and will be conducted by Morales and Central Arkansas University Director of Choral Activities Frank Eychaner, who, in November of 2023, personally invited Henderson and his YHS chamber choir to perform.
“I had to pause for a second because it caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting it,” Henderson said of Eychaner’s invitation.
The concert will take place at Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, which seats over 2,800 people, on Sunday, May 11, 2025. But before the 42 students head to New York City from May 3 to May 12, they are busy rehearsing and raising money for the trip. The program earned over $10,000 from fundraising efforts last school year and hope to raise about $2,500 for each student.
This year, students have held several car wash fundraisers at Jiffy Lube in Yelm, and the program is selling 200 tickets to a Seattle Mariners game on Sunday, Sept. 29, and it receives 50% of the profit from ticket sales. As of Tuesday, Sept. 24, there are about 50 tickets remaining.
“I’ve worked so hard with my program to not have an us and them mentality. We do everything together. I avoided doing large trips like this because the cost of doing things like this in our community is great,” Henderson said. “I had to think about it for a couple of days. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because a world premiere piece in Carnegie Hall is something that very few people get to do, let alone a high school choir.”
To help raise money for the trip, the program is hosting its first six-day Yelm Junior Show Choir Workshop in October and November that culminates with a YHS choir benefit concert that will also feature alumni and staff performances at 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9.
In January of 2024, Henderson broke the news of Eychaner’s invitation to his students, who shared his shock and awe at the opportunity to perform on the Carnegie Hall stage and explore the most populous city in the United States.
“It didn’t feel real because we’re a very small town, and so for us to get an opportunity like this, it feels like a once-in-a-lifetime experience to not only do it for ourselves but to represent the rural community that we come from,” senior Adrian Roberto said.
While the students felt jubilation upon hearing the news, they were sad that the class of 2024 wouldn’t be able to join them in New York City.
“It was shocking and super exciting at the same time, but it’s emotional because these seniors that put in the work to help us get to where we are and help teach us all the things that we know, you want to see them go with you and you want that journey together,” senior Samantha Blank said. “But they’re happy for us, and we’re happy to see them move on.”
The trip is not only an opportunity for the students to perform at a high level, it gives them the chance to bond with one another and network with professionals in the music industry.
“I think it gives us a big opportunity to get closer because, personally, in the past few years I felt like we weren’t really a big family, but this year, I can tell that everybody is bonding a lot better,” senior Kellyrose Tustison said.
Blank said she appreciates the opportunity even more because of the reduced number of activities and clubs at the high school due to the failure of the educational programs and operations levy in the spring. Most of the choir’s events are self-funded or paid for through fundraisers.
“The levy definitely took a lot from our community. It’s weird to see that all these things that we had and we cared about kind of vanish a bit, and there’s a fear of uncertainty,” she said. “It’s what kids would come together for. That’s how you make connections and friendships.”
Junior Spencer Cornwall said the reductions to other programs he was involved in was “a blessing” because it allowed him to spend more time on choir and built relationships with his classmates.
“I’ve had to drop out of marching band and a couple other things that I was doing, but I’m able to dedicate more time to choir and fundraising. When I first started choir, I felt like I was almost treating it like the military,” he said. “I’m not where everybody else is at with networking and talking to everybody, and I’m still learning how to talk to people in the first place. That’s something I’m looking forward to taking from this trip.”
Senior Moira Jordan described the choir program as a safe space for her and her classmates and said that the teachers, Henderson and Kelly Cornwall, have helped students find themselves through choir.
“A lot of people’s social anxiety is gone because it’s a safe space for so many students. It’s a new home for them, and they feel safer with their voice because that is such a personal thing,” Jordan said. “So many students have risen up here, and they have found themselves through this.”
Senior Charles Smith said he wants to make the most of the trip to New York City and the performance at Carnegie Hall and inspire the next generation to continue pushing the program to new heights.
“We were given this opportunity mostly because of how this program was brought up, and this is the pinnacle. This is what it’s led us to,” he said. “I want to leave this choir with more opportunities for the next generations. From where I started, I wasn’t the best, but each year, I learned to laugh at myself and with each other, and I learned how to make friends and be friends with different kinds of people. I’m really looking forward to applying that to New York.”
When Henderson got the invitation for his choir to perform at Carnegie Hall, he sent Wharton a text to let the former superintendent know that his ultimate goal for the program came true.
“I said, ‘Hey, it happened. We got invited to go to Carnegie. I remember you asking me that question, and that was my answer. We’re there,’” Henderson said.
To learn more about the Mariners ticket fundraiser, visit the YHS Associated Student Body (ASB) office in person, over the phone or by using the YCS website under the online payment platform. The program is also holding another car wash fundraiser at Jiffy Lube from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.
People can also support the choir by donating clothes, linens or shoes to the school or to 15334 92nd Ave. SE, by becoming a sponsor by contacting Henderson at timothy_henderson@ycs.wednet.edu, or donating to the YHS Connects Venmo, @yhsconnects.
