- Arts + Music
- Upper School
It had been a big 2025-26 school year for the music departments at McCallie and Girls Preparatory School long before a choral ensemble of three McCallie boys and 12 GPS girls boarded a plane for London this past weekend to compete in the prestigious “When Stars Align…” concert.
After all, 38 students from the two schools had played Carnegie Hall in March. There had been packed performances for Candlelight and Whirlwind, too many music awards for individual students to count, and a McCallie freshman, Ife Collins, won a gold medal in his age category at the Boston International Music Competition for “The Storm,” an original quintet he composed entirely on his computer.
But even if the school year is over, the music department’s accomplishments are still going strong with the “When Stars Align…” concert this Thursday in London’s famed Barbican Hall.
Accompanied by choral groups from Poland, Canada, Germany, Michigan, California, and the United Kingdom, the giant choir will perform songs under the direction of Dan Forrest, who wrote the majestic “Let Me Listen,” which the McCallie and GPS singers have been working on for close to a year under choral directors James Harr (McCallie) and Emily Tousek (GPS).
“It’s really a large chorus of small ensembles,” said McCallie junior Alex Hammontree, who will be joined by classmate Caden Barnick and sophomore Bryar Barron. “We’ve worked on the songs for much of the year. We’ve also got some built-in time to see London. Maybe check out Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London. I’ve never been to Europe so this is so exciting.”
Perhaps to that end, Harr said what he’s most excited about is, “Just to see my boys experience London, and perform in this great event. These are some of the best choirs in the world and they reached out to us to be a part of it.”
Tousek is no less excited for her GPS girls, whom she says hope to visit Abbey Road, the site of the Beatles’ famous album.
“I’m so excited for them to have this experience,” she said. “Music is the universal language.”
- mccallie chorus