Plainfield Students To Sing At Carnegie Hall

PLAINFIELD, IL — Three District 202 students middle school students will get a once in a lifetime opportunity this summer to perform on the stage at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Recent Ira Jones Middle School eighth-grader (now Plainfield North High School freshman) Amanda Bautista and Ira Jones eighth-grader Vivian Bohm, along with Aux Sable Middle School eighth-grader Karissa Kantor will perform as part of the Middle School Honors Festival Choir.

Ira Jones music teacher Karen Blair nominated the trio for the Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall.

Blair teaches Bautista and Bohm at Ira Jones, and gives private voice lessons to Kantor.

The three students submitted an audition video and completed an information packet including why they wanted to be part of the program, who or what inspires their singing.

Bautista, Bohm and Kantor will join more than 200 other middle school students from June 22 to 26, 2017 to learn from award-winning conductor Greg Gilpin.

The five-day program also includes meeting and working with other finalists from around the world, a party celebrating their accomplishments and seeing New York landmarks including a Broadway show.

The three girls were surprised they won spots in the program. They are looking forward to different things during their first trip to the Big Apple such as working with Gilpin, meeting and learning from other students, and improving their own singing.

“The trip will be eye opening for a middle-schooler like me,” Bautista said. “I hope it opens a lot of opportunities for me in the future.”

Blair is proud of these students and said she recommended them for the program in part due to their singing abilities.

“I knew that they love music and could handle and enjoy a challenging experience that they could not get in a normal choir situation,” she said.

The entire experience also will be fun, Blair added. “Often we are singing in gyms but singing in Carnegie Hall will probably blow their ears away."

Submitted by District 202

Photo: Ira Jones Middle School eighth-grader Vivian Bohm (left), Aux Sable Middle School eighth-grader Karissa Kantor and former Ira Jones eighth-grader (now Plainfield North High School freshman) Amanda Bautista won spots in the Middle School Honors Festival Choir this summer. The trio will perform in Carnegie Hall and work with award winner composers from June 22 to 26.