Cantare at the OAKE National Conference!

Hi! We are Maud and Lucy, two choristers who attended the OAKE National Conference in Hartford, Connecticut on March 22nd. For the past few weeks, we have been preparing non-stop for this exciting event. We brought back old repertoire from our trip to Stockholm, Sweden, last spring, and introduced a piece new to our program written by Zoltan Kodály. That morning, we piled onto the bus, ready for a day packed with fun and nervous energy. We arrived, warmed up, and proceeded to the stage.  Halfway through the concert, we were given a standing ovation after the song “Go Where I Send Thee." This was a huge honor!

Nothing feels better than music educators coming up to us after a concert and having them tell us that what we did inspired them. It is a feeling like no other, and we have been continuously honored to be included in events such as this one. YPC has never failed to introduce young people our age to new experiences which we otherwise wouldn't have discovered. Until we graduate, we look forward to all the new things yet to come!

Maud (15) and Lucy (15), Concert Chorus

I had such a fun time at the OAKE Conference in Connecticut with YPC. When we arrived at the conference we went into our holding rooms, ate a snack and then rehearsed for the performance. The performance went amazingly well and we even got two standing ovations! As we were getting off the stage people kept congratulating us. Afterwards we went to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner and Elizabeth was so kind to treat us to dessert for a job beautifully done. Overall it was a really fun experience and I’m really happy I had the privilege to be a part of it. It was really amazing to see that our hard work paid off!

Sofia, Cantare, 15

At the OAKE conference in Hartford, CT, we performed a beautiful concert. This was one of the best experiences I have had in YPC. And the concert was a success! One of my favorite things about performing with YPC is the way that our songs carry memories; I've performed these songs in upstate New York, at spring and winter concerts, and in Sweden. As the oldest singer present on Friday, I may not have a chance to perform these again. Standing onstage during the applause, I knew we had done well; I'm so proud of every chorister, and feel so privileged to have had a part.

Lindsey, Concert Chorus, 17

I had such a great experience at OAKE! It was the first time I was traveling with YPC to perform. Once the day came, I was so excited I could hardly stand still! I had so much fun riding the bus with my friends and my mom who chaperoned on the trip. We talked, laughed, and ate food. Once we got to the venue, I suddenly changed into “Young Artist” mode. In our rehearsal room we changed into our uniforms, and went through our pieces. All through lunch I thought about my choreography and notes because I wanted to make Elizabeth, our conductor, proud. We really had to be prepared. Finally, the time came to go on stage! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. During one of the pieces we sang, one voice part had to sing a difficult note without the pianist playing it for them and they hit it perfectly! The note came through so strongly it startled me! I looked at Elizabeth and saw tears in her eyes. I was so touched by the fact that this one note moved her to tears. During the pieces with choreography, I gave it my all and danced like no one was watching. After “Go Where I Send Thee,” the crowd gave us a standing ovation! I was thinking to myself, “Wait for it, we have a surprise!” In our last piece, “Come Fly with Me,” we made an airplane at the end and we got another standing ovation! I felt so proud of myself for accomplishing this! After the concert, we went to a restaurant for dinner. The food tasted great and so did the dessert. Finally, we took the bus back to New York and I went home thinking about the concert all night. I even dreamt about it! It was one of the best experiences of my life!

Thalia, Cantare, 13