Choir embarks on trip to New York

The CSB+SJU Choral Arts Ensemble will perform in the world- renowned Carnegie Hall in New York City from Thursday to Monday.

Carnegie Hall, first opened in 1891, is a cultural hub of music in the United States and has featured a wide variety of famous musicians, including Tchaikovsky and The Beatles.

“It just seems surreal to perform on a stage where Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Elvis Presley and countless others have performed. To step foot on the stage where they have been is just amazing,” said Nick Brey, SJU senior and Chamber Choir student assistant.

The journey began when Bradley Miller, director of CSB+SJU’s Chamber Choir and the SJU Men’s Chorus, received an invitation to be a guest conductor at the hall and feature his own choir members in the performance. Miller earned his bachelor’s degree in music education at Concordia College, Moorhead, master’s in music degree at the University of Minnesota and doctoral degree in musical arts at the University of Arizona. He was hired by MidAmerica Productions, Inc. alongside one other conductor.

“I have led the program at CSB+SJU for the past four years. My choirs have traveled around the region each spring, but this is the first time we’ve done something of this magnitude. We are so thrilled to be able to sing great music with other choirs from across the country in the world’s most famous concert hall,” Miller said via email.

In the fall of 2024, auditions were held to create the Choral Arts Ensemble that would perform at Carnegie Hall. These students attended weekly rehearsals as a group and rehearsed individually for a total of 78 hours, which was documented on a chart.

The ensemble will sing pieces by world-renowned composers, including “Zadok the Priest” and “The Coronation Anthem” by George Frideric Handel, “Sanctus” by Johann Sebastian Bach and nine movements by Antonio Vivaldi.

CSB junior Noelle Aguilera, an alto in Chamber Choir, shared that her favorite piece to sing came from the third movement of Handel’s “Coronation Anthem.”

“I love how it begins with such power and glory, and then it transitions into the layers of the choir building off one another,” Aguilera said.

When asked about what she hoped would come from this milestone, CSB sophomore and Chamber Choir president Abby Robinson said she wants it to exemplify their hard work.

“More than anything, I want people to remember that this was a moment of excellence — a testament to the power of collaboration, hard work and the shared joy of making music together,” Robinson said via email.