International students convene at John F. Kennedy School for annual Honor Choirs festival

 At 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night, 200 students from
all over the world will be taking the stage at the RBB Große
Sendesaal in Berlin for the annual High School Honor Choirs
Festival. The festival was established by the Association for
Music in International Schools (AMIS) and has taken place
annually since 1976. The event gives participating students the
opportunity to work with renowned conductors and to travel to
international schools for an intensive three day
program.


Joseph Curtis is the chairman of the fine arts department and
choral director at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. He’s
traveled with students in the AMIS honor choir to perform in
places like Luxembourg, Brussels, London, and Abu Dhabi, but this
year he looked forward to showing visiting students the culture
Berlin has to offer.


Curtis says the hope is that students will develop a kind of
harmony when they perform together on stage, and form
long-lasting friendships. He observes that “there’s something
magic that happens in rehearsal. When the people are all very
committed to what they’re doing and they’re making something
beautiful together, there’s a team aspect: everybody needs the
rest of the choir.”


Produced by Sylvia Cunningham