Businesses Help Make Students' Carnegie Hall Dream a Reality

For 10 Granite Bay High School students, a singing appearance at the revered Carnegie Hall in New York City looms in their future. The only thing holding them back – $20,000.

The 10 students are part of the school’s Madrigal Choir that was invited last spring to perform at the Festival at Carnegie Hall, which takes place March 18, 2012.

Fortunately for the students, raising the money has become a joint effort among the 10 families and the Roseville area business community. With the help of and several other area businesses, that lofty sum of money might be obtainable through fundraising efforts.

Denio’s learned of the Madrigal Choir’s plight and reached out to help. The choir group was given free access to a Denio’s space several weekends ago. Besides selling various items at Northern California’s largest open-air market, several singers performed on Denio’s stage and also sang at different locations at the swap market both Saturday and Sunday.

Denio’s customers and vendors donated money to the singers and the group also fared well selling household items, used prom dresses and baby clothes. The choir is also selling raffle tickets for a three-night stay at Northstar-at-Tahoe.

Stacey Sheeketski, whose daughter Jessica is one of the singers, received a call from Eric Denio offering to help.

“I’m out shopping at Denio’s three times a month, so it was very surprising, really out of the blue, to get a call from a prominent member of the Denio’s family like Eric,” said Stacey Sheeketski, one of the key parental fundraising organizers, along with both Nancy Sutton and Tammie Snyder. “It’s really neat that Denio’s wants to help. This is huge for us.”

The Madrigal plan is to spend one weekend day a month taking advantage of the free Denio’s space and the singing opportunities. Their next Denio’s date is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19.

“We saw a story in the (Roseville) Press-Tribune and wanted to find a way to help the choir raise money,” Eric Denio said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall. How special is that! Denio’s has been a part Roseville for more than six decades. We take pride in this community. We stepped up to help the choir and I’m glad to see that other businesses did as well.”

The Madrigal Choir has been part of a garage sale at Treelake Village. Area restaurants like California Pizza Kitchen and Pasta Pomodoro donate portions of an evenings’ proceeds, and La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries is helping out as well. Another source of money has been frequent “Canegie Cupcakes” sales initiated by Sutton.

The cost of the New York City trip is about $2,000 per student, which includes air travel, ground transportation, hotel accommodations and meals.

“Carnegie only invites four or five high school choirs to perform every other year. The kids realize what a big deal this is,” Stacey Sheeketski said. “Music, singing, it’s a big part of their life. They are working hard to make this happen. And the community is really lending its support as well.”

Denio’s is open every Saturday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., rain or shine. The Friday outdoor market is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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