The “Road to Carnegie Hall” fundraiser is set for Saturday, April 23, from 3 to 5 p.m. outside Malibu City Hall (23825 Stuart Ranch Road). It’s being billed as “an afternoon of live music with the Malibu High School orchestra,” with a suggested donation of $30 for one ticket or $50 for two tickets.
In addition to the current MHS string orchestra, several professional musicians, including two MHS alumni, will be on hand to perform songs from their own solo works. The alumni are Gabriel “Gabe” Deibel, singer/songwriter and UCLA Summa Cum Laude graduate in musicology; and Kalvin “Kal” Madsen, also a singer, songwriter and musician.
“The orchestra is very excited for this chance to share the stage with professional musicians,” MHS Orchestra Director Maia Zander said. “In addition, the orchestra just won the ‘Music in the Parks’ music festival competition in Anaheim a couple weeks ago, getting the highest score out of 25 groups that competed. They look forward to playing that very same concert here in Malibu.”
The money is being raised to send MHS Orchestra students to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall in March 2023 as part of Manhattan Concert Production’s Symphonic Series for accomplished young musicians.
MHS sent a group of student musicians to Carnegie Hall four years ago; so this year’s seniors have already had the experience of playing there.
Forty-five students from the MHS string orchestra will go to Carnegie Hall next year, and 35 of them will participate in the fundraiser concert on Saturday (the rest are involved in the school play the same day).
“This will be the experience of a lifetime, and having done one of these performances when I was a young musician, I’m sure it will be unforgettable!” said Zander. “Our students will also get to work with a professional clinician on the day before our adjudicated performance.”
“Participation in the Carnegie Hall Symphonic Series is by invitation and application only, so the overall performance quality is expected to be excellent,” Zander continued. “We would like all students to have the opportunity to participate in this regardless of financial situation.”
The cost for each student is estimated to be $2,000, which includes hotel, airfare, performance, workshop, Broadway show tickets, professional orchestra concert tickets, subway pass, some meals, and additional sightseeing activities yet to be determined.
The nonprofit A Call 2Peace Foundation (AC2P) is an organizer as well as benefactor of the event, which is sponsored by the Malibu Arts Commission.
Eduardo Del Signore, spokesperson for AC2P, founded in 2003, described his organization as a group of musicians, opera singers, etc. — many of whom have been nominated for Grammy Awards and the like, including himself — that want to “create platforms of artistic expression for other musicians and singers.” To find out more about their mission, go to https://www.acall2peace.org/
Tickets can be purchased at: showtix4U.com/events/mhs2carnegiehall
Donations can be made to: showtix4U.com/events/24018?action+donation