My Weekend in Carnegie Hall

So this weekend, the PB wiki shirt traveled to NYC! After patiently waiting in Michelle's school bag during Turkey Day, I taken out and placed in Michelle's Carnegie Hall bag, which was extremely exciting. I then realized that I would be spending the next 2 days with Michelle as I listened to rehearsels for a choir performance in Carnegie Hall with David , Becky, Jillian, Nicole, Melissa, Tommy, and Allie. Their choir teacher, Mrs. Mello, is friends with the conductor of the performance, John Leavitt, whose music was actually performed. They performed his pieces in Carnegie Hall with 4 other choirs, some of them local, and 2 of them from Kansas and Vancouver area! They had an amazing time, and being in Carnegie Hall was extremely inspiring to all of them. I think I want to sing someday!

I could not enter Carnegie, however, because the kids were not allowed to bring in anything valuable with them, and I am EXTREMELY extremely important, so they didn’t want to risk me getting stolen. Instead, I got to listen in on their rehearsals in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which were incredible. The picture that the kids took is of them, me, and none other than John Leavitt, the conductor. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, in relation to biology, in order to sing, one must use their vocal chords. According to wikipedia.com, the vocal chords, or vocal folds, are comprised of two mucous membranes that stretch across the larynx, which protects the vocal chords and houses all of the elements needed for sound production. When singing, the mucous membranes vibrate, creating sounds. For example, when a person sings the note A, they vibrate 440 times per second!! These also open when one breathes in, closes when one is holding their breath. Men and women have different sized vocal folds. Men’s are usually larger, making them produce lower sounds. They are between 17 mm and 25 mm in length. This is very different from women’s vocal folds, who tend to be less muscular and much smaller. They are between 12.5 mm and 17.5 mm in length. Food does not travel through the vocal folds; it travels through the esophagus. However, if food does travel through it, it causes choking.

I think I want to be a singer someday and sing in Carnegie Hall just like the kids in Miss Eberhardt's bio class...