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Practice, practice, practice Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Russ Otte directs the Ashland High School Treble Choir during a Thursday afternoon practice. The choir is headed to New York in June for a performance at Carnegie Hall, thanks to a recommendation by a Portland State University director who will conduct the concert. Ashland school choir knows how to get to Carnegie Hall By Tony Boom ASHLAND � Margaret Taylor�s early singing career included a performance at her pre-school graduation. Her next big performance will take place on a considerably more visible stage. The 16-year-old Ashland High School junior will join other members of the AHS choir in performing Mozart�s "Requiem" next June from the stage of New York�s Carnegie Hall. About 60 Ashland High performers are expected to join with 90 to 115 other voices and a professional orchestra to present the performance in the 2,400-seat Main Hall. Singing at Carnegie will be exciting for Taylor, who says she has been "singing since I�ve been a baby." She grew up in a home where her mother regularly played the piano and her father played the viola frequently. She wants to take the family�s musical talent a step further. "I hope to be in music, if not as a singer, then in production," Margaret says. Ashland High School was invited to perform on the recommendation of Bruce Brown, Portland State University director of Chorale Activities, who will be the conductor. Brown heard the Ashland choir perform in May under the direction of Russ Otte. "I was impressed with the quality of the work by Russ at Ashland high," said Brown. The school hosted a workshop in which the Portland State Choir performed and listened to the Ashland group. "I try to say to young people, �If you take quality stuff and do quality work you get results,� " said Otte, who sees the group�s selection as a validation of this approach to education. Otte often challenges his students with major works such as "Requiem" or a secular chorale piece, which will be premiered in a performance by the choirs at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Southern Oregon University�s Music Recital Hall. Brown says the New York trip is an opportunity for the singers to see a whole different world of music. "My main goal is to take people from Oregon who don�t have a chance to perform in a major hall, and with a great group of professional performers," said Brown. The students will arrive in New York June 14 and leave June 18. They will take part in three rehearsals before the June 17 performance. Besides Taylor, other students look forward to the trip. "I�ve wanted to see Carnegie Hall since I was four," said Katie Basile, a 17-year-old junior. An alto, Basile has performed in choirs since the seventh grade and hopes to be a professional singer. "It means we�re doing a good job here," said sophomore Shawna Kastin, 15. "Not that many groups go to Carnegie Hall to sing." Sophomore Candace Honeywell, 15, says singing at Carnegie will give her a better understanding of professional performance, a possible career choice. Between 1,800 and 2,200 people are expected to attend the "Requiem," according to Jonathan Griffith of New York�s Mid-America Productions, which will put on the concert. Other performers will come from the Portland Symphonic Choir, Pierce College in Tacoma, Wash., Portland Christian High School Choir and Cascade College in Portland. "I�ll sing with the choir," said Otte. "I�m not going to pass up this opportunity to perform in one of the great halls of the world." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.