Toro alumna and high school music teacher Amanda Chavez never imagined that someday she’d be conducting on the stage of Carnegie Hall. But on March 12, that’s exactly what she did, marking her and her students’ debut in the illustrious New York City venue. Chavez and 55 of her students had been invited to perform as a featured ensemble for the “I Choose Love” festival organized by National Concerts.
Chavez, who earned her degree in music education and minor in Asian Pacific Studies in 2013, is the Director of Instrumental Music and Department Chair of Performing Arts at Jordan High School (JHS) in Long Beach, where she also directs multiple ensembles. When she received the invitation to perform with her students at Carnegie Hall, the opportunity was too good to miss.
“I put together an ensemble of students from advanced concert band and my strings students to make a modified symphonic orchestra with a full saxophone section,” Chavez says. “Saxophones are a little nontraditional, but we were playing to our strengths.”
The next step was a bit trickier: raising enough funds to make the trip financially possible. The Jordan High School choir was also invited to attend, so Chavez and her choral director had to figure out how to pay for 90 students to travel to New York. Thanks to persistent fundraising, as well as support from Mayor of Long Beach Rex Richardson, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, Southwest Airlines, and other sponsors, the group was able to secure the funds needed.
“It was so amazing to see what this meant for our students,” Chavez says. “Except for two or three, the students had never been to New York, or even been on an airplane before.
“We were able to go sightseeing, and they experienced a whole new city and environment. The excitement level was off the charts!”
That excitement reached even further heights once the group experienced playing inside Carnegie Hall—first at a rehearsal, then during the concert. The ensemble had prepared four pieces: “Opening Night” by Brian Balmages, “Cadence Everlasting” by Rossano Galante, “Into the Storm” by Robert W. Smith, and “Waltz No. 2” by Dmitri Shostakovich.
“It was surreal, and just gorgeous getting to hear the resonance of the space,” Chavez says. “We had a lot of beautiful moments during our rehearsal that translated into the performance.”
For Zelle Guzman, a senior at JHS and clarinet player, getting to perform inside Carnegie Hall was “the definition of magnificence.” Guzman was one of several students who performed solos during the festival, and she described the experience as “amazing.”
“Hearing all of my friends playing with me onstage in a famous hall felt unreal,” Guzman says. “It was really nerve-wracking doing a solo, but I’m so proud of how all of us played. It was so much fun!”
It was an exceptionally proud moment for Chavez, too. She hails from a family of musicians, and was informed by her grandfather that she was the first in the family to perform in Carnegie Hall. In addition, she says it was an “incredible” feeling as an educator to share the experience with her students.
“I loved it, they loved it—there were so many smiles,” Chavez says. “Those magical moments where you play music together make you think, ‘this is why we do it.'”
