Seven Kimball area students are among the 100 high school singers and 20 orchestra players from 27 different communities and 23 schools who will be premiering a work at the Paramount Center for the Arts in St. Cloud on Friday, April 21, and Sunday, April 23. They are members of the Youth Chorale of Central Minnesota. This will be the fi rst time this work has been performed in the area.
Maria Beck, Jarett Edwards, Ahnika Lexvold, Eric Bakken, Jacqueline Missler, Kaylee Hechtel and Ryne Hildren have been rehearsing with the group every week all year in preparation for this concert, and a lengthy list of other concert appearances as well. The most recent appearance was last month at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis during the national convention of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). ?ÄúSinging in that space was a phenomenal experience,?Äù said Kimball senior Kaylee Hechtel. ?ÄúOur sound just rang through the entire auditorium. As a choral performer you can only dream of having that experience.?Äù
?ÄúThe Kimball area is near and dear to me,?Äù said Laurie Johnson, Director of Performing Arts at the Paramount and the initiator of the Requiem concert. ?ÄúAs a child I spent my entire summers near Marty and the nearby lakes. When these seven students were just infants I helped a group of dedicated local residents form the Kimball Community Playhouse.?Äù
The Kimball area has always been very supportive of the arts, as evidenced by the continuous and substantial involvement of students from the larger Kimball area in the Youth Chorale,?Äù noted Garrett Lathe, founder and conductor of the Youth Chorale. ?ÄúWe are so excited for these students to have the opportunity to sing this masterpiece work with a large orchestra, a rare opportunity for any singer.?Äù
When asked about the commitment it takes to make those long drives to rehearsals every single Sunday and to the many concert appearances, Kaylee replied, ?ÄúMy first years my parents had to drive me. I?Äôm so grateful for their support. But I love music and I love to sing and I really love singing with others that love to sing. There?Äôs a real passion there. Every single person is there to sing and learn and grow and make new friendships.?Äù
Bob Johnson, the Executive Director of the Paramount, fully understands the lasting power of those friendships and of this experience. ?ÄúThrough music, youth connect internally with who they are and who they can be, while simultaneously connecting with each other. That?Äôs how we create real community.?Äù
Almost no one in the group has sung with an orchestra before ?ÄúPreparing the Requiem has been very strenuous. We have never worked on such a long and difficult work. I?Äôm so excited to put it all together with the orchestra,?Äù said Kaylee. Kaylee will be attending the University of Minnesota in Duluth seeking a major in Business and a minor in Theater.
Ahnika Lexvold, a senior from South Haven, was selected to sing the soprano solo. In the Fall she will be attending St. Mary?Äôs University in Winona and majoring in Theater with an emphasis in musical theater. ?ÄúIt?Äôs the only school in the country that takes all of the juniors to London for the year to be involved in theater there. I?Äôve also had some opera experience and attended a two-week long Minnesota Opera Camp two years ago. It was intense.?Äù This year Ahnika switched teachers to Dr. Carolyn Finley at the College of St. Benedict.
Ahnika also teaches theater to young children. She just completed teaching a class at Kennedy Elementary after school 2 days a week to second- and third-graders.
Ms. Johnson and Mr. Lathe dreamed of this event two and a half years ago. It?Äôs taken 20 months to make this a reality for these high school students. ?ÄúThe work itself is very accessible for high school and church choirs to do, even if only one or two movements. We are hoping that choir directors and choir members from around the area will support the tremendous efforts and dedication of these 100+ high school students and attend one of the performances. The work is very much in the romantic tradition, with lush harmonies throughout. There are hundreds of requiems written to honor the memories of the dead. This is the only one written specifically to honor the struggle of those left living.
The five movements of Dan Forrest?Äôs Requiem for the Living form a narrative for the living and their own struggle with pain and sorrow when dealing with the loss of a loved one. ?ÄúOverall, the work is a prayer for rest (?ÄúRequiem?Äù) for the living, not for the deceased. The plea of this requiem is to ?Äúgrant us rest, O Lord.?Äù
For tickets, you can visit the Paramount?Äôs website at
paraountarts.org, or call the box office at (320) 259-5463. Adults are $16 and students are $8 (plus a $2 handling fee per ticket).
