Devin DeVargas was running some errands one November afternoon when he heard some news that made him very happy.
“I was picking up my brother at the (Pojoaque) middle school and I had to drop off something at my choir director,” DeVargas said. “She was there. She asked me if I found out yet. It was Halloween. I checked my email there. Then, I just kind of screamed and I was jumping up and down. We both kind of knew.”
Good thing he didn’t ruin his voice, as DeVargas will perform during this year’s international Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He is one of about 500 high school students selected from the United States, Canada and various European countries.
DeVargas, 17, a senior at Pojoaque Valley High School, is one of three New Mexican students selected for the Series, alongside two other students from Carlsbad.
The Series, composed of choir, orchestra and band performances, will be Feb. 22.
A baritone, DeVargas will sing in seven mixed choir selections, which include art songs, foreign language songs and folk pieces. He said he is thrilled to be a part of the program.
“I’m pretty excited,” he said. “It’s unreal.”
DeVargas is part of his school choir. He also performs with the New Mexico All State Youth Choir and Santa Fe’s Sangre de Cristo Chorale.
He started his musical endeavors in third grade at Pojoaque Elementary School.
“We used to have a little lunchtime choir where we would go do little cutesy things,” he said. “I stopped with music because we didn’t have a choir program from fourth grade to the sixth grade. Once I went to middle school, I started again.”
The Nambé native rehearses an average of 20 hours a week with his school choir and the Santa Fe chorale. He said he does another two-and-a-half hours of vocal exercises on his own.
He also works 20 hours per week at Los Alamos’s Mesa Public Library.
DeVargas said his commitment to performance art demonstrates a strict discipline on his part. His favorite aspect of performing is the impact his music has on listeners.
“I can’t go to rallies and games and scream at the top of my lungs because that will just mess everything up,” he said. “I don’t get a lot of free time because I’m always rehearsing. It’s a commitment. It’s the connection that you make as a performer with the audience that just makes it all worthwhile.”
After he graduates in May, DeVargas will go to college at Eastern New Mexico University to work toward a bachelor’s degree in music education, with an emphasis on vocal studies. He said he wants to help students reach their musical dreams in the future.
“I’m not sure what level I want to go into yet, whether high school or elementary, but I’m not that far yet,” he said.
DeVargas’s love of the arts may be genetic. His father, Rio Arriba County Emergency Preparedness Director Mateo DeVargas, and his mother Victoria DeVargas, were dancers.
Mateo DeVargas said he is extremely proud of his son’s accomplishments.
“He’s come a long way,” Mateo DeVargas said. “He had good instructors and teachers along the way. We expect him to continue to grow and learn and teach what he’s learned in life and help the younger generations.”
Mateo DeVargas said the local school district should encourage students to attain accomplishments in the arts, as his son did. He said music education is important.
“We need music out there,” he said. “Music is needed in all the schools to continue what these young men and women do, what they’re capable of.”
Victoria DeVargas agrees with her husband. She said administrators should not only cheer for athletes, but also for young musicians, dancers and theater performers who work just as hard.
“I would hope that, if they’re not already getting the support, that more emphasis is put on supporting those programs,” she said. “I really believe they have an impact on the overall performance of students. Both our boys are very involved in it. A lot of times, when it comes to budget cuts, those are the budget cuts that are being hit the hardest.”
Before Devin DeVargas can go to the Big Apple, he needs to raise $6,000 for the trip. He is currently looking for donations toward his project.
The DeVargases will also hold a fundraising performance for the singer at 1 p.m., Jan. 24 at Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe del Valle, 9 Grazing Elk Drive, Pojoaque.