Journey of song: Costa choir teacher takes ensemble back to his Greek roots
Mira Costa High School choir director Michael Hayden directs the school's 31-student vocal ensemble that will perform in Greece this summer and at Carnegie Hall next year. Photo by Andrea Ruse Mira Costa High School Vocal Ensemble students and their parents packed into the Manhattan Beach Unified School District office at a surprise meeting in January. The 31 students sensed something serious was afoot because Superintendent Bev Rohrer was present. “We had no idea why we were there,” said senior Amanda Charney, president of the Costa Vocal Ensemble. “We thought something bad had happened, like our program had been cut with all the budget cuts going on.” Instead, choir director Michael Hayden announced that, for the first time, the vocal ensemble had been invited to give a solo performance at the 2011 Carnegie Hall Concert Series. MidAmerica Productions, the firm that produces the concert, typically contacts invitees 10 days after listening to applicants’ CD submissions. Within three hours of hearing the ensemble, the show’s artistic director, Peter Tiboris, called Hayden with an invitation. “To say that the musicality, choral tone, sensitivity to dynamics, dramatic interest…
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