You can also click on this link to view the behind-the-scenes video
APRIL 21, 2022—The Palmyra-Macedon Select Choir will take the big stage in the Big Apple this weekend.
The group is 18 students strong, and is made up of 10th, 11th and 12th graders. They are performing at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. The trip is the latest for the choir, which has traveled throughout the United States and abroad, including Carnegie Hall spotlights in 2014 and 2017, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Wales, and Greece.
We spoke to the group shortly before they got on the bus to head down Thursday morning.
"It's been super exciting," Katie Shoots, a junior, said. "With COVID, a lot of things haven't been able to happen, so the fact that we're able to go as a group to New York City is super exciting."
The choir hasn't just had to work through COVID obstacles, they previously operated the last several months without their leader, Mrs.Osika, who was away from school to take care of her newborn daughter, Harper.
As we previously shared with you, Osika returned on Feb.28 after Harper was born on Dec.22, 2021. Osika delivered Harper just hours after the high school choir wrapped up its holiday concert on the 21st. She was recently honored with WROC-TV's (News 8 Rochester) "Golden Apple Award" after she was nominated by a student.
The choir has spent a considerable amount of time rehearsing ahead of the NYC performance. This includes different training techniques like singing in front of the large mirrors in the practice room at the Performing Arts Center (PAC). The method was used as a way to give the group a better look at how they perform.
Shoots said the group had to adjust between working with Mrs. Rhonda Fossum, who filled in for Osika, and of course, with Osika herself.
"We had all new music, none of us really knew what was going on because none of us had ever been on a trip like this before," Shoots said. "So at the beginning it was kind of hard working up to it, but once [Osika] came back we really started kind of going to town on everything, and it's been really good."
Best of luck! #PalMacProud