Taking a Piece of the Big Apple
Westminster harmonizes with the New York Philharmonic

By Jess Decina

Performing in front of hundreds of people in the city with accompaniment from one of the country’s leading orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, is no easy task. But it’s all in a day’s work for the members of the Westminster Choir College (WCC) Symphonic Choir, according to junior Tara O’Connor.

“I was less nervous and just excited more than anything,” she said. “It is always such an honor to be able to work with such accomplished musicians as well as being able to put on a stunning show.”

O’Connor and about 90 other members of the choir performed in “The Magic of Mozart Festival,” which ran from Thursday, Jan. 26, through Saturday, Jan. 28, in Avery Fisher Hall in New York City. The choir members lent their voices to “Mass in C Minor,” the final piece. The concert kicked off a three-week festival of city-wide events to celebrate Mozart’s 250th birthday.

The WCC Symphonic Choir comprises 180 junior, senior and graduate students who are voice majors. No strangers to performances of this caliber, the choir members have sung with major orchestras — more than 300 appearances have been with the New York Philharmonic. To prepare for the three days of performances, the choir practiced four days a week last semester with its director, Assistant Professor Sun Min Lee.

“The New York Phil[harmonic] is one of the leading orchestras of the world; working with them is an honor,” she said.

According to Lee, the ensemble traveled back and forth to the city since Tuesday, Jan. 24, for one rehearsal with the orchestra and one dress rehearsal the following morning. Although the schedule was “demanding,” Lee said, the opportunity makes it worthwhile.

“[The performances] are part of their learning experience,” Lee said. “They try to achieve a higher level of excellence.”

Performing with professional orchestras has become an integral part of WCC’s curriculum. Dustin Struhall, a senior and tenor in the Symphonic Choir, found the experience surreal, although somewhat of a norm.

“[Performing] is something we have to do,” he said. “It’s humbling, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

Struhall said the choir has performed with the New Jersey Symphony, the Philadelphia Philharmonic and the Dresden Philharmonic. The performances became an integral part of the students’ time at WCC.

“Each experience, regardless of how many times I’ve performed on that stage, is a great honor and blessing,” said junior Marco Melendez. “There are not many other collegiate choirs throughout the world that receive the opportunity to collaborate with musicians such as those of the New York Philharmonic.”

The experience, said O’Connor, is always a rewarding one and also gives her and the other choir members a sense of responsibility.

“Being able to uphold the respect that Westminster has spent years earning is an important part of the experience and a good thing to have an awareness of,” she said.

Although performing with famous orchestras has become part of the choir members’ lives, it is also a part of their education at WCC. Just as students at Rider often take internships, pursue independent studies, or write senior theses, students at WCC study and analyze the different composers’ techniques.

“As future educators or performers, this will most definitely come in handy,” Melendez said.

Lee added that the preparing and performing of this music will “educate them and prepare them for the world that they will live in and learn in.” Many students will go on to apply this experience to their careers, she said.

“Reaching such high standards and high level of music making is invaluable,” Lee said.

With a week’s worth of traveling, three performances and one dress rehearsal, the entire process was taxing for the choir members’ time and voices, Melendez said.

“We were reminded of how demanding the task ahead of us really was,” he said. “It was most definitely not something to take for granted nor something to just brush off.”

With such intense work to be done, Struhall admits that there are always a few pre-performance worries. It is, however, forgivable to make a few mistakes when singing with nearly 90 other people.

“There’s 86 other people up there besides me,” he said. “It is somewhat nerve-wracking, but you’re still surrounded by everyone else. We just get up there and do it.”