How Do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice!

 Among the talented high school singers and musicians gathered for the Connecticut 2011 Western Region Festival showcase on Sat., Jan. 15, were seven students from New Canaan’s. 

The seven had auditioned in November to secure a spot alongside student musicians from twenty towns in the western region of Connecticut. The festival was held in the auditorium of .  

All seven students will advance to the final round of auditions to be held in North Haven, CT on January 29, 2011.

Five of the St. Luke’s students are singers who performed with the Western Region Festival Chorus on Saturday. This was the first step in the process of being selected for the prestigious Connecticut All-State choir.  

Senior Samantha Foman, and juniors, Charlotte Bergmann and Emily Bergmann are residents of Norwalk. Christian Langalis is from Rowayton, and Zoe Smock lives in Pound Ridge. 

Cellist Spencer Jaffe and percussionist Charlie Schlinkert performed in the Western Regional Honor Orchestra. Jaffe is from New Canaan, and Schlinkert lives in Darien.

Dale Griffa has been St. Luke's Music Department Chair for nine years, and for each of those years a number of his students have qualified for the Western Regional Festival.

"I am very proud of all the work they put in during the audition process." Griffa told About Town. "It's a privilege for them to be able to participate with other students from the region who perform at the same level that they do."

This was the second year Jaffe made both the choir and the orchestra. He began playing the cello when he was four years old, inspired by his young cousin, whose cello playing he thought was "the coolest thing ever."

Since third grade, when he attended , Jaffe has been studying the cello with Lois Errante in Wilton.  He said she has guided him to become the cellist he is today. 

With a full load of honor and Advanced Placement classes, he takes one lesson a week and puts in at least one hour of focused playing every day.

Yo Yo Ma is Jaffe’s role model. After seeing the Grammy award- winning cellist perform at Carnegie Hall, Jaffe was fortunate to meet him back stage.

"He plays effortlessly and relaxed, producing a sound that I haven't heard from anyone else. The instrument just makes him happy," Jaffe said. "His energy, joy and passion were evident in his playing and it just blew me away."

Jaffe and Schlinkert will perform at Carnegie Hall in May with the Norwalk Youth Symphony.  Jaffe said he will be honored to play at one of the most famous concert halls in the world.

"Performance to me is just spreading the joy I find in the cello," Jaffe said. "Playing a song is fun for me. If I do a good job, the listener will find the song fun as well."

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?  

Practice.

And that’s no joke.