It’s the kind of bold scheme almost no one in the public schools tries these days: flying an elite group of young singers 7,000 miles, to a remote part of a hardscrabble country, to perform opera in the birthland of their revered teacher.

This July, Mira Costa High School’s Vocal Ensemble will be the very first high school choir ever chosen to appear in the International Festival of the Aegean, on the historic island of Syros in Greece. The Festival is a two-week midsummer spree of classical music that annually attracts artists from throughout the world to play, sing, and dance in a majestic theater built during our Civil War. Costa’s award-winning, 32-member Ensemble will be part of the chorus in a full production of Bizet’s magical Carmen, backing a cast of operatic notables. In addition, they will perform a sunset concert of sacred music at a magnificent old church on the island.

The Festival will be a second homecoming for Dr. Michael Hayden, Costa’s nationally respected choral director. Born Costakis Yahalis in rural Greece, Hayden was adopted at the age of fifteen months by an American diplomatic family stationed in Athens. Sleuthing through dusty files in Greek orphanages, friends of Hayden tracked down his birth mother three decades ago. He was reunited with his mother – a shepherdess who lived outdoors – shortly before her death in 1996. Touched by his remarkable life story, the Festival’s organizers have also arranged for Hayden and the Vocal Ensemble to take a side trip to his former village, where numerous relatives still reside.

Despite Manhattan Beach’s image as a wealthy enclave, Mira Costa draws its students from all over the South Bay. Some are being raised by single mothers, others by entertainment-industry workers now feeling the crush of runaway production. In these deeply difficult times for our schools, the Vocal Ensemble will receive no state or district funding for this venture. Those families who can pay for their child’s travel expenses, have; for the rest, the Ensemble is conducting an intensive fundraising campaign to assist the deserving. Every Ensemble parent, recognizing the profound educational opportunity the Festival offers their children, is doing something to help raise these funds. Many Ensemble seniors have asked friends and family for donations in lieu of graduation gifts. For the remainder of the cost, we are seeking donations from a variety of corporate and private entities, gifts which are entirely tax-deductible.

In an era where the arts are being shoved onto the chopping-block in virtually every school district, why are we doing this? Because Mira Costa High School is among the state’s very best, and its music department is a national power, and at Costa the difficult is what we do. Tough times have always spurred artistic achievement, and we ask you to join us in this wonderful challenge.