HOPE RISING will mark Manhattan Concert Production’s first live concert at Carnegie Hall since the beginning of the pandemic. We are celebrating this exciting landmark by forming two National Festival Choruses, led respectively by guest conductors Christopher Maunu and Elizabeth Swanson. Ensembles from across the country have been hard at work preparing a wonderful selection of choral works, including Maunu’s “Phoenix: A Trilogy of Hope”, Rosephanye Powell’s “Still I Rise” and “To Sit and Dream,” Wynton Marsalis’s “The Lord’s Prayer” from Abyssinian Mass, and much more.

PARTICIPATING ENSEMBLES

Arvada West High School Choirs; Chris Maunu, Director; Arvada, CO

Abilene High School Singers Ensemble; Danette Whiteley, Director; Abilene KS

Cherokee Trail High School Choir; Aaron Jaramillo & Paige Lewkow, Directors; Aurora, CO

Estes Park High School Concert Choir; Alan Denney, Director; Estes Park, CO

Florida International University Choir; Karen Fuller, Director; Miami, FL

Harding Academy Chorus; Craig Jones, Director; Searcy, AR

Lenape Valley Regional High School Patriot Pops; Kathleen Donahue, Director; Stanhope, NJ

Pennsauken High School Choir; Kate Guenther, Director; Pennauken, NJ

Spackenkill High School Chorus; Holden Maiorana, Director; Poughkeepsie, NY

University of Colorado Choirs; Elizabeth Swanson, Director; Boulder, CO

Individual Participants from: Farmington Hills, NY; Jacksonville, FL; Queens, NY

In addition, the concert will also feature performances from Arvada West High School Wind Symphony, Arvada West String Sinfonietta, and Tomball High School Band. Audiences will enjoy repertoire from Percy Grainger, Leonard Bernstein, Florence Price and more. Please join us as we celebrate this momentous occasion!