Saint Peter High School

Group of 110 students departs March 22 for five-day trip to the Big Apple

Saint Peter High School’s choir department is gearing up for an upcoming trip to New York City later this month, and those 110 choir students in grades 9-12 making the trek to the Big Apple will perform during a special NYC send-off concert on Monday, March 20th.

The free concert is set for 7 p.m. on Monday at the SPHS Performing Arts Center and will feature music the choir students will be performing at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City (see inset photo above) later that week. The SPHS Choir will perform there on Thursday, March 23 at 10:30 a.m. as part of its NYC trip (March 22-25).

“This is an amazing opportunity for our students to get to perform at such an impressive venue,” SPHS Choir Director Bri Bergstrom said. “We will perform about a 30 minute concert there, which is the largest Gothic cathedral of its kind in the world.

“I wanted to do a live run through of the music we’re going to be performing there, so I thought the concept of a send off concert would be an ideal way to accomplish this.”

According to its website, “The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the Seat of its Bishop, is chartered as a house of prayer for all people and a unifying center of intellectual light and leadership. It serves the many diverse people of our Diocese, City, Nation and World through an array of liturgical, cultural and civic events; pastoral, educational and community outreach activities; and maintains the preservation of the great architectural and historic site that is its legacy.”

The trip to New York City will be the first for the SPHS choir department since the pandemic, and Bergstrom is excited that such a large group has chosen to go. In addition to the 110 students making the trip, there will be 33 adult chaperones accompanying the group.

“We are going to be spread out over three different flights just to get our group to New York, but the tour group that is handling our trip takes care of these kinds of tours all the time, so we’re in very good hands,” she said. “Because we haven’t been able to take a trip like this since before the pandemic, I decided to open it up to all choir students in grades 9-12 and I was amazed that we have such a big group going.”

In addition to the performance at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the choir students will also take part in the Movement & Music Workshop, which is taught by members of the cast of the Broadway musical production of “SIX.” The tour group will also attend that evening’s production of “SIX” at the Lena Horne Theatre.

In addition to its two performance-based activities, the choir and its chaperones will have plenty of sight-seeing opportunities as well. Among those highlights includes visits to such iconic locations as Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Gayle’s Broadway Rose, Central Park, 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Chinatown, Little Italy and the Financial District. The group will also take a DJ Dinner Dance Cruise on the Hudson River on one of the nights.

“We’re packing a lot into the short amount of time we’ll be there, but I wanted the students to experience as much as they can,” Bergstrom said. “For many it will be their first time visiting such an amazing city, and we hope it creates memories that will last a lifetime.”