West Caldwell chorus to perform in Toronto

Shelby Powell, News-Topic, Lenoir, N.C.
·2 min read

Apr. 5—Caldwell County — Parents and students of the West Caldwell High School chorus gathered in the cold at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 4 to begin their cross-country trip to Canada for the WorldStrides Festival of Gold. There, West Caldwell choral director Bethany Wolfe will lead the students in a feature concert at Metropolitan United Church in center city, Toronto.

WorldStrides, an organization that provides travel opportunities for students, holds regular heritage festivals to provide choral students the chance to travel and explore new cities to enrich their studies. Those who achieve the highest ranking in these competitions are invited to attend a WorldStrides Festival of Gold. The West Caldwell students were invited after both of the school's participating choirs earned a gold ranking and secured 1st place at the WorldStrides Heritage Festival in Atlanta in spring 2023.

Though typically a sort of collaboration between attending school choirs, extenuating circumstances led to this Toronto performance becoming something of a private concert, giving the students the chance to experience a completely different performance venue. "The neo-gothic style cathedral has gorgeous acoustics, which will alone be an incredible opportunity," Wolfe said.

After loading their charter bus, the group received a private escort to the county line by a Gamewell fire truck and one of the new Caldwell Sheriff's patrol cars, the escort provided by Leslie Hawkins and Lt. Tracy Hawkins of the fire department and Lt. John Austin from the Sheriff's office respectively. The trip was officially underway at 7:50 a.m. when the escort led the students' bus out of the parking lot and down the road.

While the students loaded the bus, Principal Richard Griffin expressed pride in and appreciation for the director Wolfe, students, parents and others who "have worked hard organizing and fundraising of this once in a lifetime opportunity for our students."

The students will perform on Sunday, April 7 before beginning the trip back home.