WESTMINSTER — It's a long way from the hills and fields of Vermont to the stage of the historic Paramount Theater in Springfield, Mass., but the Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir completed the journey and came away champions.
The Kurn Hattin Homes Select Choir was named Top Performer in the children's gospel category after making it through the final round of the choral competition series “Together in Song,” a show produced and aired by public television station WGBY in Springfield.
The 40-member ensemble from Kurn Hattin Homes for Children was the first Vermont chorus chosen to compete in the series. The children competed against 35 ensembles for a chance to perform live on stage in the finale showcase held at the Paramount on April 28.
Their performance, a gospel medley arranged by Kurn Hattin's Music Director Lisa Bianconi, was broadcast live along with the final performances of nine other ensembles.
Kurn Hattin Homes for Children is a charitable, year-round home and school with more than 100 years of service to boys and girls from throughout the Northeast, who are affected by tragedy and social or economic hardship.
The music program at Kurn Hattin was established in the late 1920s. At first primarily a marching band, the program quickly grew to include a choral group and concert band. Among Kurn Hattin's notable alumni musicians are Dick Nash, trombonist for Henri Mancini and Emmy Award winner for the score of the TV series “The Thornbirds” (Dick's original Kurn Hattin trombone hangs on the Kurn Hattin music room wall), and Herman Robinson, who performed with the Metropolitan Opera.
Today, all 100 students at the school participate in one or more aspects of the music program, and all students in grades 4-8 learn and perform on band instruments.
Over the past 28 years, the program has continued to grow and flourish under the direction of Bianconi. She holds a B.A. in music education from Notre Dame and a M.A. in education from Keene State College. She came to Kurn Hattin in 1985 and quickly knew she had found her calling. Over the years, she has helped hundreds of the children in Kurn Hattin's care to find their voices and overcome adversity through the healing power of music.
Bianconi is responsible for teaching all general music classes at Kurn Hattin, as well as directing the marching, jazz, and concert bands, and the beginning, select, and advanced choirs. The children perform more than 30 public concerts in an academic year, and Kurn Hattin also hosts annual invitational concerts attended by jazz bands and choruses from area schools.
“It is a lot of work, but I love it,” says Bianconi. “The Select Choir which entered the competition in Springfield has 35 members, and is a subset of the larger choir which has around 80. Both choirs are audition-trained and polished. The ages in the full choir run from five to 15, whereas those in more experienced Select Choir are in the fifth grade or older. We have a multicultural student body. The kids at Kurn Hattin come from diverse backgrounds, but music had touched all of them. Everyone accepts each other's feeling in this safe and secure environment.”
Bianconi said that although the Select Choir entered the WGBY competition in the gospel category, both choirs perform every kind of music - “classical, pop, Broadway, all the genres. In the fall, we sing at a lot of churches and music festivals.”
So how did they get to Springfield?
“The Select Choir entered the competition by sending an audition tape, which we did in the fall,” Bianconi said. “We found out in December that we made it to the next level. The Select Choir went down to the television studio in Springfield for a taping session. These sessions were aired on WGBY, with subsequent judging by the public and judges at WGBY. Of course, we were stunned and overjoyed when we won.”
She said that for this competition, the bar was raised high.
“But it proved to our students that they could achieve great success if they worked hard. I must add that we were given great support from the whole Kurn Hattin community.”
Students in the choir are enthusiastic about winning, being in such a special choir, and the gifts of Bianconi.
“I did some singing before I came to Kurn Hattin,” says eighth-grader D'Leanne Solovei. “but here I got so much better training that was important to me. The competition was incredible, something I never expected to do. I feel it's important to say, and the others will agree with me, that we couldn't have got there without Miss Bianconi, who has been such a big help to all of us.”
Fifth-grader Dan Greenspan confesses that he was a little nervous when the choir was being filmed at WGBY.
“I just held my head up, smiled, and did my best,” he said. “I guess it all came out all right. It was amazing when I later saw myself on television.”
Eighth-grader Dominac Cheronneau said “it was very much fun going to Springfield, even when our bus got stuck in the traffic. We just sat there talking with friends. We may play around making music, but we have worked very hard with Miss Bianconi for our success.”
“It was a long bus drive to Springfield,” agrees seventh-grader Chrystal Longe. “But we were all so hyped that we didn't mind the traffic jam. I love performing, something I have done ever since I was little. Seeing the filmed show at WGBY was a little weird, kind of like looking in a mirror.”
Longe summed up what many feel about their experiences in the choir:
“We come together as a family,” she says. “We enter as many people, but become one person. We care about everyone in the choir. We are that close. When one person is down, everyone is down.”