Clark High freshman selected for Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall

Francesca Srina Bridal, a freshman flutist at Clark High School, was selected by video audition to perform with the Honors Performance Series symphonic orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The selection followed an emailed acceptance: “congratulations. You were accepted. And I was in the symphonic orchestra, and that's the highest 1 that there is,” Bridal said. The student and her family traveled to New York for rehearsals and the performance.

“It's a lifetime experience. It's something nobody can take away,” Bridal said. Her private instructor, Cynthia Farris, said the Honors Performance Series began in February 2010 as an opportunity for high school students to perform at Carnegie Hall and that participation exposes students to more challenging music. “Any kind of honor group, especially something like that with the national level, it helps kids get inspired, but also they introduces them to much more challenging music, which is always good for their growth,” Farris said.

Bridal described rehearsing with other high school students from outside the U.S. and said watching the venue left her "jaw on the floor." Her mother, who accompanied her to New York, said, “It was wonderful to have my daughter on the Carnegie Music Hall stage playing an instrument that she loves.”

The program is competitive: more than 10,000 students were nominated across all ensembles for the Honors Performance Series. Bridal said the experience has strengthened her work ethic and musical development and that she plans to return to Carnegie Hall during spring break to watch a professional orchestra.

Background: The Honors Performance Series brings selected youth ensembles and soloists to perform in New York City. In this case, Bridal was placed in the symphonic orchestra; further program-specific details such as exact performance date, repertoire, and nomination breakdown by ensemble were not specified in the transcript.