O
n Sunday February 4, Gilroy High School
students and twin sisters, Alix and Ailyn
Betancourt, joined their classmate Sloane Pace
as they sang in the Honors Performance Series
Choir at Carnegie Hall, New York to a sold out audience
of nearly 2,000 people.
The seventeen-year-old seniors have been singing and
playing music for much of their lives, including through
their church choir, caroling at the holidays, in a local
mariachi band, and of course through their school choir.
Their music has taken them to Costa Rica and other
regional locations, but neither of them ever expected to
be performing at Carnegie Hall.
They were encouraged to apply to the honors choir
by their choir director, Jonathan Souza, of Gilroy, who
nominates several students every year for various honor
choirs regionally, statewide and nationally.
“These students show a high aptitude for music and
are often leaders and considerable contributors to our
choral ensembles at Gilroy High School,” Souza told
TODAY .
The students he chooses are highly focused and up to
the “challenging experience of singing in an elite honor
choir,” he said. “They are also good citizens, have a strong
work ethic and are singing ambassadors for our program
and the larger Gilroy community.”
From the sisters’ point of view, however, they would
not have thought to apply to the choir without Souza’s
encouragement.
“Our choir director said if we wanted to do it he would
fully support us,” Ailyn said. “Any advice we needed, or
anything to record with, he would help us. Performing
at Carnegie Hall is so prestigious, it’s not something that
anybody here really does, so I wanted to audition.”
Alix admitted that she was nervous but said she told
herself, “Maybe I’ll get in or I won’t, but at least I’ll know
I tried.”
Only eight students were initially nominated, which
narrowed down to just four, including the twins. They
were also both nervous that only one of them might be
accepted since they’re accustomed to doing most things
together.
Ailyn was dubious about her chances of getting
accepted, even after they had finished their audition
recording.
“She had a lot of self-doubt, but in the end it paid off,”
Alix said of her sister.
“I felt a lot more confident just by being accepted,”
Ailyn shared. And performing itself “boosted
my confidence as a singer.”
When they finally learned that they both had been
accepted, Alix said, “We were just so happy and we felt
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN
so lucky and grateful. I would have felt alone if she didn’t
get in,” Alix said.
Going to New York itself, where they had never been,
was an exciting adventure for the sisters who have grown
up in Gilroy.
“It was so different from Gilroy with its valleys and
mountains. New York is all skyscrapers and lights,”
Alix said.
The sisters took a tour of the Statue of Liberty, walking
all the way up inside the huge statue, and got to see a
Broadway musical.
But the highlight, of course, was their actual
performance, which left Alix feeling confident and happy.
“It boosted my confidence. It makes me think I’m a pretty
good singer and I definitely want to continue singing in
some way.”
Souza describes the process, which he has participated
in for many years as choral director, as a journey. “We
go on a journey together…in which at first they may be
unsure of what is ahead.” Preparing for the event takes a lot
of trust between the conductor and the musicians, he said.
“When I see my students participate in an honors ensemble
I see years of work, commitment and passion manifesting
itself into choral majesty.”
Though neither girl intends to make a career of music,
both imagine keeping their toes in the musical waters in
one way or another.
As for the future, Alix wants to study to become
an ultrasound technician, and Ailyn wants to go into
veterinary medicine. Despite having spent their lives side-
by- side, they don’t plan to attend the same college.
“We’ll miss each other but it’ll be good to be a little bit
independent of each other,” Alix said.
“We’re together all the time. From eighth grade until
junior year we had the same exact school schedule,”
Ailyn added.
Alix said that while she wants to go and see the world,
ultimately she imagines she will come back to Gilroy. “I feel
really connected here, so I don’t want to live so far away
that I can’t come in a drives time.”
Souza is proud of them regardless of what they go on
to do. He feels they learned a lot from the process. “They
[learned] to work collaboratively with strangers, listen to an
expert they do not know—the guest conductor—and create
music. They learned that they must always contribute their
best…and bring their best self to the task at ha