On Sunday the voices of 82 Libertyville High School choir singers are scheduled to echo across the walls of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

Led by Choir Director Jeff Brown, the singers have been rehearsing day and night to perform during a Lent mass at one of the most sacred places in the world on March 27.

“It will probably go down as a lifetime highlight,” Brown said. “I never thought I would have the opportunity. I never thought it my wildest dreams.”

Pope Benedict XVI will not be at their performance, but the singers are experiencing a mixture of pre-performance emotions.

In addition to singing, Emma Draher, 17, has also been studying Latin at LHS.

“Everyone says to me, ‘Why are you studying Latin? Only the Pope speaks Latin.’ Now I’m going to sing where the Pope is,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the sites and the Coliseum, but I find it nerve wracking. I never thought I would be able to go there and sing there.”

Sara Young, 18, said that, as a Catholic, she finds the opportunity to be a great honor. But she added if she weren’t Catholic, she would still be in disbelief about the upcoming trip.

“It’s extremely surreal,” Young said. “We’re so excited. We’re very privileged and blessed, but even for someone who isn’t Catholic — it’s an unbelievable type feeling. Regardless of religion, it’s sacred for so many people in the world.”

Lindsay Moulton, 17, who went on a choir trip with the school to Austria two years ago, said she feels pressure to leave a good impression.

“When I was in Austria, I was in awe of all of the beauty of the buildings and you’re in unfamiliar territory. You want to give them a good impression of what American choirs are like,” she said.

The trip to perform in Florence, Venice and Rome has been planned since February last year, but the opportunity to perform at the Papal Basilica was a surprise to Brown this January.

“They told me we were going during Lent for the Catholic Church. ‘You’re probably going to be singing in churches and stuff like that,’ they told me. I didn’t really know where the concerts would be and times. We get to January of this year- I got an e-mail from our person at Witte Travel and it said we have tentatively booked your choir at St. Peter’s Basilica.’ After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I said, ‘How did this happen?’”

Jane Larson, manager of the performance tour division at Witte Travel & Tours in Grand Rapids, Mich coordinates choir performances with a maestro at the Vatican.

“He knows we do not send him bad choirs,” Larson said, referring to the maestro. “I wouldn’t send him one that wasn’t good enough. They’ve traveled with us for three or four tours before, and we’ve always received very good reviews with their choir when they performed in England, Austria and Hungary.”

The maestro requested that Brown send a formal letter to the Vatican with a repertoire of the music Brown planned to have the choir sing.

“We needed to sing music a cappella. We needed to sing music that fit the Lenten season and music that is more reflective, more somber. These songs are more slow, they’re reverent,” Brown said.

Brown chose, “If you love me, keep my commandments” by Thomas Tallis, “Down to the river to Pray” by Sheldon Curry, “The lord bless you and keep you” by Peter Lutkin and Giovanni da Palestrina’s Latin piece “Adoramus te.”

“We’ve had to schedule extra rehearsals at night. It’s pretty much new music for the kids,” Brown said.

The choir is also scheduled to perform at the small town, Montecatini, at a church in Mestra and at a small town outside of Venice, Brown said.

Years ago when Brown was a student, he sang in Vienna Austria with his college choir, the Kilgore College Chorale.

“Now, 21 years later, I’m taking my own choir to Europe to perform at St. Peter’s Basilica,” he said. “Things have come full circle for me.”

In addition to singing at historical towns and churches, the students yelled and giggled in unison that there is one other thing they look forward to doing everyday—“Gelato!”

Draher explained she and her friends plan to taste as many kinds of gelato as they can throughout the trip while “drinking in the beauty.”