To create a connection between the musical world and a community organization, 27 members of the Mountain View High School Chamber Choir participated in the Bridge to Homeboy concert held at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles May 13.

“The idea and philosophy behind the ‘Bridge’ concert is to not only raise awareness of the activities of the community organization, but to also create fellowship and connections between people who wouldn’t necessarily cross paths in normal life happenings,” said Nancy Ludwig, Mountain View High School Chamber Choir director. “In addition, by including original compositions written for the event by local composers, it raises awareness of these organizations and their challenges by creating a musical representation that people can connect to.”

The Chamber Choir worked with David Montoya, a Mountain View High School graduate who is now the choral director at La Habra High School, who wrote “Don’t Go Back to Sleep,” based on a poem by Rumi, for mixed choir, ukulele ensemble, bass and drums.

“Mr. Montoya gave the instrumental part to the La Habra High School Ukulele Ensemble and they came to the concert and performed the piece with us,” Ludwig said. “It was a wonderful collaboration between Mr. Montoya and the students from both schools. They had a great time, learned a lot from each other and formed new friendships.”

All the choirs performed for one another and the composers who contributed original compositions were in attendance to introduce their work and the thought behind it. Also in the audience were members of Homeboy Industries along with church and community members.

“Dr. William Belan, former director of Choral Studies at Cal State Los Angeles and current director of the choir at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles, is the founder and organizer of the event,” Ludwig said. “This is the second ‘Bridge’ type concert he has put together.”

According the Ludwig, “the students enjoyed the process from beginning to end, and the culminating concert was sensational.”

The students were exposed to some excellent choirs and it was exciting for them to be able to perform in a different location than they are used to, in front of many different people,” Ludwig said.

In addition, several speakers from Homeboy Industries spoke of their experiences on the streets and in and out of prison before being “saved by Father Gregory Boyle and Homeboy.”

Boyle is the Jesuit priest who formed Homeboy Industries to provide jobs for former gang members who wanted to give up the gang lifestyle.

“It was inspirational to everyone there, and my students were extremely moved,” Ludwig said. “Hearing the speakers cast a wonderful spirit over the whole event, and it seemed to inspire each performing group to create the most beautiful music possible.”

“It was an awesome experience performing for Homeboy,” said one Mountain View High School student. “It’s something I will never forget.”

“The opportunity for us to collaborate with Mr. Montoya was very positive,” Ludwig said. “It was an invaluable experience and a source of inspiration for my students to work with an alumni from their school in their community who has made a success of his life and loves what he is doing.”

According to Ludwig, the concert was a success for many reasons.

“The performances of each ensemble were amazing, the compositions written by each composer were both appropriate for the event as well as beautiful musical works, and the coming together of choirs from many different areas was a unique and wonderful combination,” she said. “The students were truly moved on many occasions throughout the evening and this event provided a perfect opportunity to expose them to positive musical and community organizations outside their immediate world.”

Also performing was the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles Vocal Ensemble directed by William Belanm, Cal State Los Angeles University Choirs, the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts Concert Choir directed by John St. Marie and the Spirit Chorale of Los Angeles directed by Byron J. Smith.