On Oct. 10, I had the privilege to attend the Anchorage Sings! concert featuring the choirs of Dimond High School, Mears Middle School, and Chinook and Kincaid elementary schools under the direction of internationally renowned choral director Henry Leck. It was the finest student choir performance I have ever seen.
Students sang in Mayan, Yiddish, Italian, Tagalog, Mandarin and Zulu in addition to English and were accompanied by piano, bongos, djembe, violin, glockenspiel, fiddle, banjo, bass and percussion. The performance of the unique composition called Psalm 8 composed by Dan Forrest sent shivers up my back.
I'd like to express my deep appreciation to the Atwood and Rasmuson Foundations for bringing such a talented director to Anchorage to develop the musical skills of our students and to Dimond teacher Charlotte Smurthwaite for her months of labor to make this possible.
— Tam Agosti-Gisler
Anchorage