News Release
Homer CCSD 33C
Goodings Grove Luther J. Schilling William E. Young William J. Butler
Hadley Middle Homer Jr. High
Contact: Charla Brautigam, Communications/Public Relations Manager
cbrautigam@homerschools.org | 708-226-7628
For Immediate Release:
June 28, 2016
Carnegie Hall performance leaves HJH students with lasting memories
Thirteen Homer Junior High School students are back from New York where they performed at one of the world’s most famous concert halls — Carnegie Hall.
“We had the most wonderful time and made lifelong memories,” said Homer Junior High choral director Diane Pullara who accompanied the students on their trip to New York. “The looks on their faces when they walked onto the Carnegie Hall stage for the first time was priceless.”
The students were among 400 elite musicians from across the country selected to participate in the five-day Middle School Honors Performance Series.
They worked with choral director Sally Albrecht during a series of morning and afternoon rehearsals and performed what they learned June 25 at Carnegie Hall.
“Their performance was magnificent,” said Pullara, who described the experience as “thrilling” and “inspirational.”
“The choral director gave them a new perspective on creative music,” she added. “That alone was worth the trip.”
Pullara helped students prepare for the trip in advance by teaching them the six pieces of music they were to perform at Carnegie Hall.
The music was “pretty rigorous,” she added, with some songs written in English, Spanish, Hebrew and Swahili.
In New York, students and their chaperones/families were able to enjoy some of the sites between rehearsals, including a trip to Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza and Radio City Music Hall.
They even took in a Broadway show, seeing “Finding Neverland” at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
“I am certain that a few of our students have been inspired to work toward becoming a Broadway performer and a professional musician,” said Pullara.
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