MCA Chorale will hit high notes at Carnegie Hall

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Mia Songy first heard Mount Carmel Academy’s competition group, Chorale, at an open house and was instantly hooked.

“I’ve always loved to sing; it’s something I’ve done since I was little,” Songy, a Mount Carmel junior and current Chorale secretary and second soprano, said.

Next month, Songy, with 30 fellow members of the all-female group, will have the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, the pinnacle of artistic musical achievement.

“It’s a dream come true,” Songy, 16, said.

It was achieving top ratings at the Worldstrides National Heritage in Nashville in spring 2023 that afforded the select Chorale an invitation to not only sing April 7 at 8:30 p.m. on the Perelman Stage in the Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall, but also sing solo as the “featured” choir at the National Youth Choir Experience.

“We’re doing three pieces, just us as a feature choir, and six pieces performing with other choirs,” said Chorale director and MCA music teacher Catherine Duensing. She also is the LA-ACDA Youth Treble All-State Honor Choir coordinator.

Chorale members are rehearsing the songs: “Cantate Domino” in Latin; “Arise, My Soul Arise”; and “Peace on Earth … And Lots of Little Crickets.” By being featured, Duensing gets to direct these three pieces at Carnegie Hall. Duensing said she selected a variety of songs that could be used at Carnegie Hall and for the group’s competition in April. The first is a Latin song meaning “Sing a New Song to the Lord” that has a thriving rhythm and is “fairly intense.” The second “is beautiful, sweet and has gorgeous harmonies, and one student learned how to play violin on it,” she said.


Chorale members were having a ball practicing “Crickets,” using wooden, ridged percussion instruments shaped like crickets, frogs, pigs as well as other percussion clackers, rain sticks, egg shakers and drums.

She said she selected the songs that could serve a dual-purpose – the Carnegie Hall performance and for the district competition in April.

In addition to their solo performance, the Chorale will be singing other songs with other top high school choirs on stage. One will be “I Can Feel the Spirit,” an original composition by Jeffrey Ames, director of choral activities at Belmont University and an accomplished composer, conductor, arranger, composer of spirituals and accompanist. Ames will also direct the combined choirs on stage.

“I’m excited to meet people from throughout the country who share this common bond and to expand my horizons a little bit with more challenging music,” said junior Baylee Smith, a two-year Chorale member. “I’m excited to meet new people and perform on a huge stage.”

Raised funds for their trip
To help raise money for the trip, which costs each member $2,100, the Chorale gave three performances before Christmas. More than $1,000 was donated, but any donation is helpful, Duensing said, and can be made at:  www.mcacubs.com/giving/make-a-gift/chorale.

The Chorale will fly into New York on Friday just in time for first rehearsals April 5 and fly back Monday morning, Duensing said. As part of the National Youth Choir Experience, they will have extensive rehearsals as a group and with the other choirs, take in a Broadway play and have one sightseeing excursion in the Big Apple in addition to their performance. They also will receive a CD of their performance, photos, an achievement certificate and a plaque for Mount Carmel Academy.


Chorale alto Amelie Brady, an 11th grader at Mount Carmel, is also club treasurer. She took choir for fun and never imagined an all-female choir would be selected for the National Youth Choir Experience, since many are usually a mixed choir of teen boys and girls.

“It is such an honor to be going,” said Brady, an alto and Chorale treasurer. “I’m looking forward to singing at such a renowned hall with my best friends and to be recognized in a unique way that I never thought I would experience.”

Duensing is proud of the Chorale and its achievements since she’s directed the group for the past six years.

“‘I think it shows how much work and dedication these girls put into what they do,” she said.  “I only see them once a week after school, so having put in this much effort to get to Carnegie Hall shows much they actually did.”

She said the Chorale experience at Mount Carmel has encouraged a handful of former students to pursue some type of music degree (vocalist, opera singer, musical education) in college. The added trip, this year, to Carnegie Hall might encourage others.

“Any traveling is exciting,” she said. “They enjoy doing something different, outside the classroom … by being able to experience New York, go to a Broadway school and to be with other choirs and rehearse with them before the performance is a unique experience for them.”

 “All the credit goes to Ms. Duensing,” Songy said. “She is an inspiration and does an incredible job of enhancing all of our talents individually and bringing us together as a group. She’s been a great motivator.”

The general public can purchase tickets for the April 7 performance in New York from Carnegie Hall Box Office:  https://www.carnegiehall.org/

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