THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504130146
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
While other Beach students are enjoying what's left of their spring break, three dozen Kempsville teens are preparing for the biggest break of their young musical careers.
The Salem High School Madrigals have been invited to perform April 23 at New York's Carnegie Hall.
``It's awesome. The Beatles played there,'' says Julie Rayfield, a Salem senior and chorus president. ``It's amazing to be on the same stage as Tchaikovsky and Bernstein.''
At 17, Rayfield is one of the oldest chorus members. She has been singing since fifth grade and has been in the Madrigals since 10th grade. But Rayfield never imagined that she'd play the venerable hall in the Big Apple.
``It's a good end to my high school music career,'' she adds.
Sponsored by New York-based Field Studies International, one choir each from Texas, California and Virginia will perform alone on stage next weekend. Other choirs from those states will be present, including one from Northern Virginia, but they will perform en masse.
``It's incredible,'' says Jonathan Minter, a Salem junior and chorus vice president. ``When you say you're going to be singing at Carnegie Hall people say, `Oooh.' I guess it hasn't sunk in yet; it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.''
The opportunity arose after Don Krudop, known to students as ``Mr. K,'' answered an ad in the American Choral Directors Journal. An FSI representative had heard the Salem choir perform at the state conference of the Virginia Music Educators Association in 1992 and recommended them.
Krudop demands nothing less than the best from his students, who, he points out, are not simply ``singers.'' They're ``musicians.''
The madrigals' rehearsal room at Salem High is plastered with slogans such as ``Perfection is our goal!. . . excellence will be tolerated,'' ``Nothing was ever achieved without enthusiasm,'' and ``The only place `success' comes before `work' is in the dictionary.''
Krudop, 42, vigorously directs from a grand piano. He sits, he sings, he bounds to his feet. He stretches his own voice into a passing fair falsetto to demonstrate the alto and soprano parts. Arms thrown skyward, he leaps onto the piano bench and standing erect exhorts his students to produce the sound he wants to hear, the sound called for in the score, the sound the composer intended. It is a strenuous workout for teacher and pupils alike.
``We don't actually do madrigals,'' Krudop explains. ``That was the class name in the school's scheduling computer. Instead we concentrate on contemporary 20th century classical works, such as those by John Rutter, Jean Berger, David Pinkham and Daniel E. Gawthrop, a living Virginia composer. We're pretty heavily into barbershop harmony in our spare time and do some vocal jazz, spirituals and baroque.''
On this rehearsal day, they're working on John Ness Beck's ``Canticle of Praise.'' Without missing a beat, they move into some difficult bars of ``They That Wait Upon The Lord,'' by Ysaye Barnwell. The style of Mozart is unmistakable as they break into the ``Kyrie'' from the ``Missa Brevis.'' As a finale, they run through ``Sing A Mighty Song,'' by Gawthrop, from the top, with sophomore Mary Bayonla accompanying on the piano.
The 15 boys and 15 girls, along with two alumni, the drama teacher, Krudop, and some parents - 37 in all - will board the bus next week bound for New York. They'll stay in the Hotel Park Central and catch Andrew Lloyd Webber's ``Phantom of the Opera'' while they're there.
The trip is costing about $20,000, all of which had to be raised by the students. The bulk of it was sent off the first Friday in March. Fund-raising, however, continues unabated. The kids help out with bingo games and sell the inevitable candy bars.
``So much of my time is spent in fund-raising,'' notes Krudop, ruefully, ``and, you know, they don't even mention that part of it in college.''
But the look on his face as he listens to his students describe the trip tells you he knows it is all for a good purpose, all worthwhile.
``I love it, I love to sing,'' says Harold Patrick Cason III, a sophomore. ``I wasn't optimistic about going because it's a lot of money, but I really want to go. A lot of famous people have sung on that stage.'' MEMO: Anyone wishing to make donations to the Salem High School Madrigals can
call Krudop at the school at 474-8484.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
At the beginning of class, the chorus students loosen up and relieve
a little stress by massaging each others' shoulders. The Salem High
group is traveling to Carnegie Hall in New York City to perform.
by CNB