Palm Beach Atlantic alumnus Sterling Frederick continues leading his award-winning choir at Boynton Beach Community High School, and now he鈥檚 also directing a new community choir, which performed at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan in December.
鈥淚t was an incredible trip,鈥� said Frederick. 鈥淭he students got to open for the Rockettes,鈥� the famous precision dance company that stages a Christmas Spectacular in the hall.
The new community choir, First Serve Dimensional Harmony, is made up of some 30 high-schoolers from the Boynton Beach and Delray Beach areas. Frederick hopes to schedule a local performance of that choir soon, and he plans to take the group to London next December, at the invitation of London鈥檚 lord mayor.
But now the director concentrates on getting his Boynton Beach Community High School choir ready for the year鈥檚 competitions. He鈥檚 built the choral music program into a point of pride for the school, its singing ambassadors hitting the road and winning honors year after year. Palm Beach Atlantic students heard the group when Frederick, a 1995 grad, brought the choir to sing at chapel. The Alumni Association recognized Frederick as a Distinguished Alumnus last year.
鈥淚 felt transported through time as I heard their angelic voices fill the chapel,鈥� said Chapel Worship Coordinator Jeanny Alexandre, after the group鈥檚 visit to 海角在线.
海角在线 students had heard that Sterling Frederick鈥檚 singers once performed on the TODAY show; they believed it when they heard those singers in that 海角在线 chapel; and they would have understood it if they could have seen the group in rehearsal:
At the end of a regular school day at Boynton Beach Community High School, choir rehearsal began right on time. Frederick was so intent on his singers that at first he didn鈥檛 notice a photographer had come to join them.
Snapping his fingers in rhythm and coaching on tempo and pronunciation, the director led the group through a lively Russian folksong, in Russian.
Next came a haunting, a cappella African American spiritual, a piece the students had memorized. Every eye trained on Frederick, they sang, 鈥淲ade in the water, children 鈥� .鈥�
鈥淵ou guys are clashing,鈥� warned Frederick. 鈥淵ou need to blend. We鈥檙e going to state; not Kmart.鈥� His singers have been to 鈥渟tate鈥� (state competition) many times, as attested by the trophies lining the walls of their rehearsal room.
After a full day of classes, these high school students were singing through a long rehearsal, but you didn鈥檛 see them glancing at their cell phones. You didn鈥檛 hear the basses talking with each other while the director works with the altos. You did hear a lot of 鈥淵es, sir鈥� and 鈥淣o, sir鈥� when students addressed their director. These students have learned that Frederick requires respect from them but also demonstrates respect for them.
鈥淭his class is not just chorus,鈥� said alto Zariah Jones. 鈥淚t teaches you time management. It teaches you how to act like an adult. And I consider us a family. Mr. Fred鈥檚 a dad to me and to all of us.鈥�
