SAN CLEMENTE : Students Sing in a Worldwide Concert

He admits it’s hard work sometimes, but Sean Goblirsch has found he enjoys singing--particularly in a certain way.

“I like to sing loud,” said Sean, 11, a fifth grader at Del Obispo School in San Juan Capistrano, “because then everyone can hear you.”

Sean got a chance to sing as loud as he wanted on Thursday, as he and about 300 other students from five Capistrano Unified School District schools, from elementary to high school level, lent their voices to what was billed as the sixth annual World’s Largest Concert.

The event is part of Music in Our School Month, an effort by the Music Educators National Conference to promote music education.

The Capistrano students gathered at Triton Center on the San Clemente High School campus and, through a satellite hookup, joined to perform with an estimated 8 million students around the world. A big screen on the stage and television monitors around the room allowed the Orange County children to watch their counterparts in Florida, West Germany and Taiwan, to name a few places. Singer Marilyn McCoo, who was backed by McDonald’s All-American High School Band, was the hostess of the event at Constitution Hall in Washington.

The students sang seven folk songs in five languages as PBS television cameras produced images on the monitors from Washington and other places.

“There’s something really neat about everyone singing together, the unity of all the different voices,” said Kristen Harvey, 15, a sophomore at San Clemente High School and a member of the school choir. “It’s easier to sing that way, because you get a lot of support.”

The concert started with “Many in One” by American composer Alice Parker. The students then sang a song in Latin, then a Liberian folk song whose lyrics translate as “Don’t cry, pretty little girl, don’t cry.”

After listening to the McDonald’s band play Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man,” the students sang the Israeli folk tune “Tzena, Tzena” in English; “Sakura,” a song about cherry blossoms, in English and Japanese, and “Las Mananitas,” the Mexican birthday song, in Spanish and English.

The final song, “A Round of Goodbyes” by American composer Frederick Silver, is the favorite of Cecily Scott, 15, a sophomore at San Clemente High School who was one of the most enthusiastic participants.

“I just like the rhythm and the words,” Cecily said.