Preparing for the ‘experience of a lifetime’: Birmingham students to sing at Carnegie Hall

 1639937867 
1677163640
A man plays the piano while high school students sing in class

Zachary Banks leads his choir class at Ramsay High School in vocal exercises. They're preparing for a trip to sing at Carnegie Hall in May.

Kyra Miles, WBHM

The students in Ramsay High School’s choir class encircle a small piano and focus their eyes on the choir director, Zachary Banks. He starts class by leading students in a series of vocal exercises. On a regular day, they’d start rehearsing their repertoire. But the last couple weeks of choir class have been different. That’s because in May the students and their teacher are going to Carnegie Hall in New York City.

“Allowing my students to have an experience of a lifetime and getting a chance to experience New York in a way that I don’t think they imagined when they walked in the doors of Ramsey High School — that’s kind of been my whole M.O.,” Banks said. “Let me just take you places.”

Last year, Alabama State University invited Ramsay’s choir to perform with their choir at Carnegie Hall. Jaiden Sturdivant, president of the student choir council, said when he heard his school was invited to sing in New York, he didn’t think twice about going.

“It really wasn’t a decision. He was like, ‘Carnegie Hall’. We was like, ‘Yeah’,” Jaiden said. “When someone says you got invited to Carnegie Hall, it’s not really a, ‘Well are we going to go to Carnegie Hall?’ It’s like, ‘When are we going to Carnegie Hall?’”

The senior and tenor has been especially busy organizing the big trip. He said being invited based on their reputation as a choir gives him a sense of pride.

“It’s a great feeling knowing that we were invited. Not just, ‘Oh, we’re going to go to Carnegie Hall to sing.’ No, they invited us to sing,” Jaiden said.

A bulletin board reads "118 Days 'Til NYC"
The students in Ramsay High School’s choir count down the days till they go to New York City. Photo by Kyra Miles

Jaiden’s choir director, Banks, said these kinds of opportunities aren’t new for Ramsay. He’s a graduate of the high school, and when he was in choir, he had the chance to perform for Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. under his teacher Myrna Ross.

He said it’s an honor to follow in “Miss Ross’s” footsteps. He promised her when he graduated that he would come back to take her place. She passed away before he finished college, but Banks is fulfilling that promise now.

“Miss Ross was everything. She was my mother when my mother passed away,” Banks said. “She just made sure that everything was good, checking on me, checking on grades, making sure I have my act together. I enjoyed music. I began to love music under her tutelage.”

Banks said he tries to show that kind of passion to his students — like Renee Greene.

When she joined choir last year, she was new to Birmingham and the school, but she said Banks and choir helped get her out of her shell and gave her a family.

“My very first day of school was rough, but [Banks] was actually the first teacher who reached out to me and was like, ‘How’s it been? I know it’s been kind of tough,’” Renee said. “Like right when I came here, I kind of, immediately felt like I found a home.”

Now she’s going to sing at Carnegie Hall.

“Right now it feels unreal. I really would have never imagined that I’d be in the place I’m at right now, especially in high school choir,” Renee said.

A choir director leads students in rehearsal
The choir practices “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” aka The Black National Anthem. They’re planning to sing this song at Carnegie Hall with Alabama State University. Photo by Kyra Miles.

For many of the students, including Renee, it’ll be their first time traveling that far. Renee expects to combat travel nerves by singing.

“On the way to sing we’re going to be singing on the bus,” she said with a laugh. “I don’t know if we’re going to be singing on the airplane.”

Even with all the vocal preparations, the choir still has work to do money-wise. Banks said they’re looking at a $300,000 bill for all the students to go. Students at Ramsay come from all different backgrounds, which Banks said makes fundraising even more important.

“We’ve got students that are just short of homeless, and we got kids who live in mansions,” Banks said. “So when I look at these students and say that the cost is $3,000 a student, some of them immediately think, ‘Well, let me see. I think my dad and my mom — I’ll talk to them and see what we can do.’ Some of them say, ‘Well, I’m not going.’ And that’s why I’m working so hard.”

So far, they’ve been raising money by selling snacks and candy, asking for corporate donations and doing performances.

Above all, Banks said he hopes this experience shows his students that music can literally take them places.

“I want to offer these students, simply put, an opportunity to experience the world by way of music.”

Kyra Miles is a Report for America corps member covering education for WBHM.

 

Think you can’t dance? Get up and try these tips in our comic. We dare you!

Anyone can dance. As you read this comic, follow each step — and you'll be moving and grooving in no time.

Employers lobby to keep health care prices transparent in hopes of containing costs

Donald Trump's first administration advanced rules forcing hospitals and insurers to reveal prices for medical services. Employers don't want to risk backtracking during Trump's second administration.

Calling all students! NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge returns for 2025

For it's seventh year, our national podcasting competition will invite students from around the country, in grades four through 12, to bring us their best audio stories.

How the Assads used a civil war to turn Syria into a narco state

As Syria's economy collapsed during its civil war, the country became something of a narco state. The regime of ousted President Bashar al-Assad earned billions by trafficking in the drug Captagon.

Biden set an ambitious new climate goal. Will it still matter under Trump?

The Biden administration set a new climate goal for the U.S. The White House argues states, cities and corporations will continue the work, even as Trump plans to exit the Paris climate agreement.

After losing VP bid, Walz searches for role in pushing back against Trump

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz saw his national profile skyrocket when he became Vice President Harris' running mate. Now, he's back home figuring out when he will push back or work with Republicans.

More Education Coverage