Francesca Montes, 14, who sang around the house, while performing for her family as a little girl growing up in Monroe, performed on a much bigger stage on Sunday, Feb. 9. The Masuk High School freshman was a soprano in the Honors Treble Choir at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
“I was really nervous about the performance,” Montes said, while recalling the walk onto the stage with other choir members during an interview in the kitchen of her Monroe home Friday. “I was looking around at the seats, trying to find my parents in the crowd.”
Santorelli’s mother, Alessandra, father, Jose, brother, Jose, 16, and sister, Pia, 13, were among the hundreds of people in the audience, as well as her grandparents, aunts and uncle.
“They were great,” Alessandra said. “They were truly amazing. There was so much talent on the stage. It was truly emotional. A mother next to me was crying.”
The 40 choir members were chosen from among 10,000 nominations and hailed from 30 states and Australia.
Montes was nominated by Amanda Morrison, who was her music teacher in the third grade at Stepney Elementary School, and the leader of Jockapella, the Jockey Hollow Middle School choir, when Santorelli was a member years later.
When Montes was in the third grade, Morrison suggested that her mother reach out to Tory Gozzi, artistic director of the Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet & Voice.
“I went to her and said, ‘I think she’d like to take classes,'” Alessandra recalled.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Montes said with a smile.
But she soon changed her mind.
“I love it,” Montes said. “I really love the music aspect of it, because I love to listen to music. It’s a fun thing to do and I’ve met a lot of new friends.”
“We were always playing music when they were growing up,” Alessandra said of she and her husband. “We’re big U2 fans.”
In addition to having participated in her school choirs and the Newtown Centre of Classical Ballet & Voice, Montes takes musical theater classes at the Regional Center for the Arts in Trumbull.
Last January, she participated in the Connecticut Western Regionals Music Festival held at Wilton High School.
Montes said she would love to pursue an entertainment career someday.
“We always encourage them to do what they love and to follow their dreams and their passions,” Alessandra said of her three children. “You’ve got to find something you love and that makes you want to go to work every day.”
“We work on a lot of techniques and training,” Montes said of her classes. “It’s what really helps you be the best you can possibly be.”
She said singing the wrong way can damage your vocal cords.
To be at her best, Montes tries to stay hydrated, avoids dairy and drinks a lot of warm tea. Alessandra said performers should avoid drinking cold water before they sing.
Making the cut
The Carnegie Hall concert was part of the High School Honors Performance Series, created to showcase accomplished individual student performers on an international level, while allowing them to study under master conductors and perform in world renowned venues.
The Honors Performance Series is presented by WorldStrides, the nation’s leading educational travel organization.
“Being selected to the Honors Performance Series is something each Finalist should be extremely proud of accomplishing,” said Marion Gomez, music director for the Honors Performance Series. “We processed nearly 10,000 nominations this year and have selected the most talented student performers from around the world. Working with these conductors and performing at these renowned music halls is a once-in-a-lifetime experience that these musicians will never forget.”
Montes had to record herself singing two songs for the audition. She sang classical pieces in Italian and Latin, including “Danza, Danza, Fanciulla Gentile” and “Pie Jesu.”
She sent out the email in August and her mother received the acceptance email in early October, forwarding it to Montes while she was practicing for another show at home.
“I didn’t think I was going to get in,” she said. “When I got it, I was surprised.”
“We were so excited,” Alessandra said. “I texted my husband. We were thrilled and really excited for her.”
A tour of NYC
Passing the audition was followed by hours of practice and preparation. The female music students arrived in New York on a Thursday, practiced on Friday and Saturday and performed on Sunday.
During the long weekend, they had dinner and lunch, saw “The Great Gatsby” on Broadway together and went on a short tour of the city.
Montes said she became close with those she performed with and world-renowned conductors taught them techniques to improve their performances.
She was part of the Treble Choir, made up of sopranos and altos, and other girls joined the Concert Choir, made up a sopranos, altos, tenors and basses. The show also featured an orchestra.
That Sunday, they performed five songs onstage under the direction of conductor, Brandon Williams. The songs included: “Imagination” by Colin Britt, “And Miriam Sang” by Zebulon Highben, “Moon Goddess” by Jocelyn Hagen, “Er its gekommen” by Clara Shumann and “Non nobis, Domine” by Rosephanye Powell.
“Typically, when the music starts playing you get focused on what you’re singing and what’s coming up next,” Montes said. “It was super fast. It flew by.”
Of performing in front of her family, she said, “it was awesome. I felt supported and I was so glad they all could come.”
“I think it was getting to see New York meeting new people from around the country and performing at Carnegie Hall. The stage was so beautiful,” Montes said of what she enjoyed most. “It was really cool. Everyone was so talented and really kind. It was a great experience.”
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