In many cases, this practice brings exceptional experiences.
Back in March, the Brookwood High School Philharmonic Orchestra had the opportunity of performing at Carnegie Hall, one of the most well-known performing stages for musicians. It is every musician’s dream to perform there. The school brought a whole string orchestra to perform at the New York Invitational Music Festival. Out of the five groups that performed, Brookwood was the only orchestra. The groups were scored a gold (highest), silver, or bronze award based on their performance. Only two of the groups received the gold award, Brookwood being one of those two.
Of the five bassists in Philharmonic, I was the only one that got to perform at Carnegie Hall. It was very exciting for everyone when we found out about the opportunity. The entire school year we practiced and prepared for our performance almost every day. We did everything to make our performance perfect. The night of March 24th, we went on stage and performed Danzas de Panema Tamborito by William Grant Still, Concerto Grosso V Allegro by George Handel, Intermezzo by Pietro Mascagni, and Serenade for Strings Finale by Pyotr Illich Tchaikovsky. I was both nervous and excited; I didn’t know what to think because I was the only bassist and I was performing at Carnegie Hall.
After our performance, the orchestra was pumped, yet we were all sad that it was all over. The orchestra had an amazing performance. It was a phenomenal experience to perform on a stage where so many exceptional musicians conducted and performed. It was dream come true for all of us, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
