First the Choir Fest, Then the World

The way one young singer sees it, the 11th annual Los Angeles Master Chorale High School Choir Festival is the first stop on the long road to fame.

“It will be fun, but I also take this experience very seriously,” said Jessica Sadler, 14, a freshman at Grant High School, one of an estimated 30 Southern California high schools participating in the free festival May 5 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in downtown Los Angeles. “This will be good practice.”

Jessica and freshmen Leekeisha Smith and Simone Botley plan to sing professionally. “Together, we’re going to be famous,” Jessica said.

Other Grant High students practicing for the festival expressed similar ambitions Tuesday.

“I find [singing] awe-inspiring,” said Claudia Castro, 18, a senior. “I just melt into the beauty.”

Marsha Taylor, Grant’s music director, said about 20 students will join an estimated 1,400 singing traditional choral selections, including Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” and Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina’s “Sicut Cervus.”

“You hear a lot of bad things about high schools,” Taylor said. “This is something good. These students worked hard rehearsing, and are not only singing in English but in a foreign language.”

The festival is sponsored by the Los Angeles Master Chorale associates, a 90-member volunteer group that raises money to support educational and outreach activities. The world renowned chorale is a resident company of the Los Angeles Music Center.

The portions of the high school festival open to the public run from 10:30 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Although admission is free, tickets are required and can be obtained by calling 323-931-0249.