Singing with the bands – Local girls record with big-time musicians

Published 6:50 pm Monday, November 24, 2008

By Richard Galluccio

Take a moment and think of your favorite musician. Now imagine getting to perform with them — as a teenager.

Six Seattle area girls got to do just that recently.

The girls, ages 14 to 18, were invited to Nashville, Tenn., to record standard and country songs with musicians from well-known bands such as the Everly Brothers, the Dixie Chicks, and members of James Taylor’s group.

The youngsters are students in The Island Choral Experience, a musical organization established almost 30 years ago in Mercer Island.

“There is nothing better than knowing you’re in the studio with famous country singers,” said Allison Jurkovich, a Mercer Island High School student who went to Nashville.

“The overall experience was amazing. I’ve become much stronger because of this experience and I also feel my voice is more solid.”

Jurkovich is a student with The Island Choral Experience, a non-profit organization managed by a board of directors made up of choir parents, members of the community, and parents of former alumni. The organization offers children the opportunity to learn and develop musical and performance skills through their adolescent years.

The six girls spent months working hard in Mercer Island recording studios before heading in February to sing in Sony Studios of Nashville. The trip was a reward to the girls for their efforts in the past two years recording compact discs through a production company called Diskeyes. The company’s producer, Donnie Marrow, financed the trip and paid for all their studio time. He knows the musicians the girls sang with and arranged the recording sessions.

The Nashville experience was the ultimate confidence booster for the teens, said The Island Choral Experience artistic director Cheryl Falk.

“These girls came away from this experience and now believe they can do anything,” Falk said. “They saw they could perform in professional settings and this has uplifted them greatly.”

Many students have performed with the Island Choral Experience since childhood. The organization has three levels: the Children’s Choir, the Preparatory Choir, and Island Sound. Thousands of students passed through the program, but very few worked with exceptional musicians in a professional recording studio

The girls were privileged to record with artists Andrea Zonn (a fiddler for James Taylor, Vince Gill, and the Dixie Chicks), Ronnie Hughes (a bassist who worked with Dolly Parton), and Bob Mater (a drummer for the Everly Brothers). These impressionable teenagers not only learned about the technical aspect of studio recording, they received another message.

They got a sense of the magic that happens when musicians get together, Falk said.

“They learned they should take hold of their dreams and it is better to try and fail than not to try at all,” she said.

Falk has directed the choir for 21 years. She has instructed thousands of children during her tenure and seen all levels of talent. Alumni have gone to work on Broadway musicals, do voice-overs for cartoons, and study music at higher levels.

Jurkovich has worked with Falk since she began the program at age 8.

“Cheryl has been more than a director for me,” Jurkovich said. “She has basically raised me since I was a child, and I can’t say enough about her. She is like my guardian angel.”

Jurkovich plans on pursuing a career in studio recording. The trip to Nashville made her dreams appear more realistic.

“My overall experience with singing in the studio has been nothing but a confidence booster,” Jurkovich said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been more confident.”

In today’s high-technology world, some students may overlook a career in performing. But on Mercer Island, directors of the Island Choral Experience encourage children and teens to follow that dream.

Mercer Island High School freshman Lily Davis did with her trip to Nashville. Davis plans on pursuing a career in performing arts. Like many graduates of the program, Davis began singing in the Mercer Island Children’s Choir. Although she was intimidated by performing at first, she now loves the program and seizes every opportunity to be with her peers.

“My favorite class in school is drama and I definitely want to do something in that field,” Davis said.

On Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19 the public can watch The Island Choral Experience perform in a musical called Musique at Mercer Island High School. The show’s songs are a collage of music genres such as country, rock, gospel, techno, and classical. Guests also can hear and purchase a compact disc of the songs the girls performed in Nashville. Tickets are $10 and available at the door.