Over the upcoming Long Winter Weekend, members of Deerfield’s Advanced Chamber Music and Advanced Vocal Ensemble will have the opportunity to perform their very own concert at Carnegie Hall, one of the most renowned performance halls in the world.
Throughout the entirety of fall and winter term, chamber musicians and vocalists have been working tirelessly to perfect their repertoire, and classes have been centered around preparing for the Carnegie Hall performance. Andy Chen ’25 explained that his chamber group has planned to meet seven times, not including the class period every other day, to work together on their piece in the two weeks before the concert.
For musicians and the music department faculty alike, Carnegie Hall holds special importance as a musically and culturally iconic venue. Music Director Thomas Bergeron recalls that “For me, I have a pretty close relationship with Carnegie Hall, because when I was living in New York, I was in residence there for three years. For me personally, it really has a lot of significance in my career, and some of the most memorable performances of my life happened in that space.” Meanwhile, Chamber violinist Daphne Huang ‘25 admits that she still has a hard time processing that she is going to perform in Carnegie Hall. When asked about what the concert personally means to her, Huang responded that “there’s nothing quite like performing in a place that makes you sound really good and makes you want to play more, and there’s nothing quite like wanting to play more as a musician.”
Another meaningful aspect of the upcoming Carnegie Hall concert is that various Deerfield alumni musicians will be performing alongside the current chamber musicians and vocalists, including Amy Kang ’05, Sean Yu ’18, Helen Feng ’20, and Christina Li ’20. These alumni have and continue to serve as role models to current Deerfield musicians.
Chamber music student Angel Zhou ’22 said, “I’m especially excited for the alumni…I’m a big Christina Li fan, and she has been an inspiration since my sophomore year.” According to Mr. Bergeron, the crossing over of alumni and current musicians represents a valuable opportunity for students to “see a life in music beyond Deerfield” and “honor distinguished alumni of Deerfield Academy who are pursuing careers in music.”.
As the concert becomes more imminent, difficulties such as COVID-19 have increasingly affected the musicians’ preparation. At least one member has recently tested positive for COVID-19, which has significantly challenged the groups as chamber music is an inherently interactive experience. Mr. Bergeron admits that this is a major challenge, but also believes that “Deerfield students are resilient.”
Moving forward, the musicians will continue to put in their greatest efforts to prepare for the upcoming concert.