Indian-American entrepreneur and Grammy-nominated artist Chandrika Tandon visited Whitman on Sept. 15 to help chorus students prepare for the World Culture Festival. The festival will display music and traditions from many different cultures. The festival will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 in Washington D.C. The students work alongside Clarksburg High School’s chorus to prepare for the event.

Tandon brought music that she composed, which combines “America the Beautiful” with an Indian song, for the students to perform at the event. She taught the students to sing in Hindi and walked them through the pronunciations and intonations of every word. Combining two songs is a great way to bring the two cultures together and draw attention to the festival’s theme this year, which is bringing people from across the globe together to celebrate their differences, Tandon said.

“I think that’s one of the beauties of music,” Tandon said. “We can all sing in different languages, even if we don’t speak that language.” 

Students attended a rehearsal with Tandon from third to sixth period on Friday. The chorus members were ecstatic to rehearse for the large-scale event and have been preparing more frequently, freshman Karolina Holit said. 

“It’s bigger than just going to state festivals or auditioning for something,” Holit said. “We’ve been selected to do this. We’re going to sing in front of the president and other world leaders.” 

Chorus staff from Whitman and Clarksburg taught students Tandon’s song for weeks before her visit, but her input helped the students reflect on the music’s messages in their singing. Whitman Chorus teacher Michelle Kim believes this reflection was crucial to prepare for the festival.

“Her text and her music are so wonderful and inspiring,” Kim said. “It’s just such an honor to be singing what she’s created for us.”