Franklin Elementary School became the second North Bergen chorus to open for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular when they performed on Monday. Their five-minute performance even garnered a “fantastic ovation,” said Dr. Armine Irving, the school’s choral director.
“It just brought tears to my eyes,” said Irving. “All the hard work, it was all worth it, just looking at these children who would have truly not been able to afford the ticket [to see the show].”
“It was extremely magical, just the expression on their faces.” – Armine Irving
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The musical piece was a difficult number, but so was the fundraising project they embarked on to make the show a reality. Irving said that after their audition tape was chosen and they were named as one of the schools to perform, they had to come up with $59 for each of the 56 students and chaperones attending.
Irving, along with eighth grade language arts teacher Beatrice Buccos, raised the approximate $3,304 through morning bagel sales.
When the students arrived at Radio City early, Irving brought the students to Rockefeller Center and had them sing Christmas carols in front of the tree.
“It was extremely magical, just the expression on their faces,” said Irving.
The Franklin School Chorus was invited back after their performance to open at next year’s Christmas Spectacular.
The path to the performance had been paved already by the Horace Mann school chorus, who performed this year and last year.