On Saturday, June 13, 2009, Austin's Fine Arts Academy Chamber Orchestra at McCallum High School will perform at New York City's famed Carnegie Hall as part of the Masterworks Series. The Masterworks Series invites qualified ensembles to collaborate on a major work for choir, professional orchestra and soloists under the direction of a nationally recognized conductor.

McCallum's Orchestra will perform Schubert's Mass No.2 in G major with the McCallum, Choir under the direction of André J. Thomas. Dr. Thomas, the Owen F. Sellers Professor of Music, is Director of Choral Activities and Professor of Choral Music Education at Florida State University. A previous faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Thomas has conducted choirs at the state division and national conventions of the Music Educators National Conference. He is in demand as a choral adjudicator, clinician and director of Honor/All-State Choirs throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. Thomas has also distinguished himself as a composer/arranger.

Schubert's Mass No. 2 in G major, D.167 was composed in 1815. This is the best known of the three "shorter" mass compositions which Schubert composed between the more elaborate first and fifth masses. The second mass, commonly referred to as "Schubert's Mass in G," was composed in less than a week (March 2-7, 1815), the year after his first mass had been successfully performed in Schubert's home parish.

The McCallum FAA Students have formed trios, quartets and quintets to play at weddings and parties to raise funds for this exciting performance. The McCallum Orchestra Performance Fund is seeking sponsors and grants to subsidize the student musicians' fund-raising efforts.