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When flutist Grace Lesselroth was in eighth grade, her dream was to perform in Carnegie Hall. Last Friday, alongside 29 other Syracuse University students, that dream came true.

“The smile just would not leave my face,” Lesselroth said. “I started to tear up a little bit and had to calm myself down because I just felt very in awe and very much shell-shocked about the fact that I made it.”

This was the second year SU students have been invited to perform at Carnegie Hall, giving selected students a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Carnegie Hall is internationally known for being one of the most impressive environments for performers and audiences.

Most students’ primary instructors nominate them to perform. The instructors bring their nominations to a board of directors and they decide their choices by the end of the fall semester, SU professor Dr. Milton Laufer said. All spring, the nominees met and bonded with the groups they would perform with as the recital approached.

Some students, like Joshua Garvin, performed solo, while others performed in small groups. The instruments included flute, violin and saxophone among others, as well as vocal performance.

“Our outlets (performance venues) just closed for years, right? It’s hard to imagine losing that entirely for so long, and I think we came away with this. I think we came away with a much bigger appreciation for just being able to do what we do,” Laufer said.

Lesselroth, a senior majoring in music education, has been off campus since transitioning to teaching music in the Syracuse area. She started performing with a flute quartet and found a way to stay connected to campus culture while teaching off-campus. The flutist group was nominated together for Carnegie Hall, performing together one last time before graduation.

“I’m fully off campus, very much unaffiliated, which makes me sad. This opportunity was amazing because I was able to bridge that gap of time I have been away from campus to still socialize with people in music school and also get together and have these rehearsals with a quartet.” Lessleroth said.

Garvin has also been dreaming of Carnegie Hall since eighth grade. His performing arts high school in his hometown of Houston, Texas was the pathway to the stage.

Growing up, Garvin saw many high school choirs performing at Carnegie, but never envisioned that he would one day be a soloist in the renowned concert hall.

Several different performance groups took the stage on Friday, from Garvin’s solo to Lessler’s quartet.

“It seemed like as a soloist and to have your own moment and your debut performance was not something I heard of. I never thought it would be me.” Garvin said. “I honestly just want to keep performing.”

Junior saxophonist Mason Romero performed in a quintet. While the five-hour bus ride was taxing, nothing could cap the buzz of excitement among the group.

“Carnegie Hall is a big name,” Romero said. “So it was very overwhelming and very surreal to walk into the space and be one of the people that was performing.”

Romero said the overwhelm of the concert hall gave way to feelings of surrealness as he performed. While many students were nervous, the excitement and camaraderie of the group made the negative emotions an afterthought.

“Just knowing that every concert – this is a cliche – but every concert can be your last. So, it’s important to live in that moment and extract all the joy you can as a performer and as an audience member.” Laufer said.

Published on April 24, 2024 at 11:38 pm