Rita Young Allen, MA, MS

Carnegie Hall

Carnegie Hall, The Lion King, Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, Titanic, Little Women, Fiddler on the Roof, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Cafe, Regis and Kelly, China Town....just to name a few (and not nearly all!) of the wonderful sights we fell in love with on our trips to New York! I took students each spring to sing with a mass Youth Chorale and mass Children's Chorale. They meet other honor students from all over the United States while performing on the stage of one of the top five performance halls in the world! This thrill is not matched by many things in the life of a student! The lives of the students, as well as the adults will never be the same. These students had the exciting opportunity to see why New York is called "the city that never sleeps!" The days preceding the finale performance at Carnegie Hall were filled with rehearsals, shopping, touring, subways, open-top big red buses, street vendors, street performers, and the infamous yellow cabs!

Here's just a few of the songs they performed:
Music, Spread Thy Voice Around, G. F. Handel
Jordan's Angels, Rollo Dilworth
Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen, Ruth Elaine Schram
Brothers, Sisters Join Hands, Earlene Rentz
Sing for Joy, Alleluia!, Sally K. Albrecht
Little Liza, Folksong arranged by Ken Berg

The life of a young person is formed by the experiences they encounter. It is our responsibility, as adults, to guide our young people in a direction that will include quality experiences that will be of benefit not only in the present, but for a lifetime! I am constantly hearing from students and their families who share with me how still fresh in their mind is the experience of singing at Carnegie Hall. This experience is so different than performing solo. This experience gives you a feeling of unity with mankind. It also gives you a sense of discipline in that you are not only learning the songs for our studio, but also for a presentation of wholeness for students from the entire US! As young people arrive from California, Florida, Washington to Texas, there is a sense of "coming together." Each year, my students make friends from all over the country that will last a lifetime. The main component I love about these chorales is that there are no big "I's" and little "you's." Everyone is the same. Everyone matters equally; no matter what religion or race. This is definitely a very positive experience in the life of a child and I am most honored to have a part in each of their lives.