MONTGOMERY: Young singer gets a once-in-a-lifetime Carnegie Hall experience

By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
Standing on the stage at Carnegie Hall – one of the most prestigious performance venues for classical and popular music – is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that Margot Hutter will never forget.
Margot, who is a student at Montgomery Upper Middle School, sang onstage at Carnegie Hall with young vocalists from the around country and around the world in the Middle School Honors Junior Choir June 25.
The Middle School Honors Junior Choir is not to be confused with extracurricular musical offerings in the Montgomery Township public school district, such as the Upper Middle School Choir.
The Middle School Honors Junior Choir is part of the Honors Performance Series, which was created to showcase accomplished middle school and high school performers on an international level. It allows the participants to study under master conductors and to perform onstage at Carnegie Hall.
The singers in the Middle School Honors Junior Choir – the choral group with which Margot performed at Carnegie Hall – are invited to participate, following a nomination process that includes sending an audition recording, according to www.honorsperformance.org.
Margot auditioned for the Middle School Honors Junior Choir and was accepted after a review by the Honors Selection Board. Her acceptance meant that she would be performing with her peers from 43 states, plus Canada, Australia and Taiwan.
“Being selected to the Honors Performance Series is something each (musician) should be extremely proud of accomplishing,” said Nancy Richardson, the program director.
“We process thousands of nominations annually, selecting only the most talented performers,” Richardson said. Working with the conductors and performing at Carnegie Hall is something they will always remember, she said.
The student musicians who made up the Middle School Honors Junior Choir and other honors groups, such as band and orchestra, spend June 22-26 in New York City.
Much of their time was spent rehearsing for their Carnegie Hall performance. The Middle School Honors Junior Choir singers studied with conductor Greg Gilpin, who is an award-winning composer and arranger and choral conductor.
But there was time for sight-seeing, as well.
During those five days, the students explored Times Square, 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Plaza and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. They also attended a Broadway show and toured Manhattan with a local guide.
Music is very much a part of Margot’s life, and that’s why she was thrilled to be part of the Middle School Honors Junior Choir.
Margot is a member of the Princeton Girlchoir. She was chosen for the New Jersey American Choral Directors Association’s Honors Choir for three consecutive years, and she also takes part in musical theater productions in central New Jersey.