St. Charles North students play 'beyond their years' at Carnegie Hall

Some people spend their whole lives practicing for a shot at playing Carnegie Hall. But the wind ensemble and chamber orchestra from St. Charles North High School had the opportunity to play there last Sunday.

And they rocked it.

"This was an extraordinary performance," said Peter Tiboris, a conductor and general manager of MidAmerica Productions, the company that helped get the ensembles to the famous stage. "The repertoire was extraordinarily high and sophisticated. They were playing beyond their years."

The 65 students had to submit to a rigorous application process.

"They have high standards because it's Carnegie Hall. We had to send recordings," said Brian Stombres, who co-conducts the wind ensemble with Brian Wis.

To pay for the trip to New York, students asked their parents for help or worked to raise the money themselves. They also organized a fundraiser. They made the trip by bus, accompanied by three music teachers and their principal.

On Sunday, the students performed the fourth movement of "Symphonic Metamorphosis" by Paul Hindemith, "Walking Tune" by Percy Grainger and "Rocky Point Holiday" by Ron Nelson.

"You don't realize until you get there and you walk out on that stage the gravity of all that history," said John Wojciechowski, a music teacher who led the chamber orchestra.

More than 2,000 people attended the concert. Playing for the first 50 minutes, the St. Charles North kids shared the billing with an international choir group.

"It's really cool that we got to be a part of something so amazing and significant. You just never wanted to let go of any of those moments," student Kiersten Aalfs said.

"It was like an out-of-body experience," said Jake McCoy, a member of the chamber orchestra.

"It was one of the most rewarding concerts I've ever played."

Parent Scott Richmond attended the show with his wife to watch his daughter Ariana, a member of the chamber orchestra.

"It was amazing," Richmond said. "To hear that concert and that sound in Carnegie Hall was truly something special."

Before the concert, Tiboris said, he was chatting with the first violin as she prepared to go onstage.

"I was telling her a story or two about Carnegie Hall," he said.

"The last thing she told me before she went onto the stage was, 'I like this a lot. I'm going to come back.'"