Third, fourth and fifth grade choral students at Tallahassee's Hartsfield Elementary School hope their hometown fans will help them deliver the performance of a lifetime.
Hartsfield Chorus Director Arnekua Jackson said she was stunned when Carnegie Hall in New York invited her group to audition for a student choral concert this coming February. But she added the audition committee was even more stunned to learn her students were not middle or high school singers.
"'Your kids are in elementary?!' she said they exclaimed when they called her to extend the invitation. And I said, 'Yes! Is something wrong?' And they said, 'No, we were blown away with their audition.' And that's how we got invited to Carnegie Hall. They gave us a special invitation because we were ready."
But it's not just practice, practice, practice that will get the Hartsfield kids to Carnegie Hall. It's also money. The trip will cost $65,000. Nearly $5,000 was raised during Wednesday night's(Aug. 28) campaign kickoff at the school. Anyone who wants to help speed the Hartsfield Chorus to the world's most famous stage can send contributions directly to the school.
