Senior Vocal Stars To Share Talent In California
By: Kayla StilesThe thought has crossed every young girl's mind at least once in her life: running off to California, living in your own apartment, becoming famous. Then reality sets in, right? For seniors Whitney Baker and Irene Peterson, this American-girl dream is becoming a reality. These two plan to pack their bags and hit the coast this coming August.
Back in October, 22 select members of the Marian Concert Choir attended a workshop given by an organization called Young Americans. This group of 14-22 year-olds, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the arts, through music and dance, to youth who are not provided with the arts otherwise.
Both Baker and Peterson attended the workshop and were amazed and enthused by the organization.
"I hosted two of the group members at my house," Peterson said, "and they urged me to go to the audition. So I did."Baker and Peterson attended the tryouts along with 18 other people from the Omaha area. Baker received the news that she had made it into this elite group of youth in November and Peterson found out in March.
"At first I was really nervous when I got the letter because it was only one sheet of paper and the only thing I could think of was, 'thick good, thin bad'," Baker said. "But then I opened it and the big black Congratulations caught my eye. I just started laughing because I was in such shock."
They now have the opportunity to move to Cypress, Calif. where they will attend Cypress Community College. Once there, they will work on voice, chorale, performance, drama and dance.
Three months after their arrival, they will put on a TNew Kids ShowU along with the other new members. After the show, the Young Americans will pick 40 youth, a mix of New Kids and current Young Americans, to tour the world for a 10 week tour.
"If you are chosen to go on tour, it is a great commitment," Peterson said. "Every three days you are traveling, and you are constantly moving from host family to host family. But, even though you are far away from home, when with the group, you always feel a sense of family."
"My mom has been really supportive from the beginning," Baker said. "She knows how important music is in my life and understands that this is what I want to be doing."
For the rest of the New Kids that were not chosen to go on tour, they will remain in Cypress where they will continue working on their performing skills. They will continue to give New Kid Shows and have the possibility to go on the next tours.
"It's scary because it is something I have never done before,"Peterson said. "But at the same time, it is a once in a lifetime chance, and if I don't do it now, I feel that I would always be missing out."
Shown here at the October workshop are Irene Peterson and Whitney Baker with Christi Roach, Natalie Thomas and Sarah Brandenburg. Baker and Peterson will be joining the Young Americans program next fall in Calif. Photo courtesy of Miss Cathy Pruitte.