Nolan Crumrine was chosen to take part in the Honors Performance Series
One Marysville student was chosen ro be part of a choir of less than 100 students to perform at Carnegie Hall in February.
Nolan Crumrine is a junior at Marysville Pilchuck High School and performed at the famous venue on Feb. 6 as part of the Honors Performance Series, an international nonprofit meant to bring young talent to some of the biggest stages in the world
“Choir is something that I love to do,” said Crumrine, who added he learned of the program through an audition invitation in the mail.
“At first, I thought it was something from a college,” he said.
After reading the invite he realized he wanted to try and get into the program.
“I worked with my vocal coach to go through the rigorous four-step audition process,” said Crumrine.
The audition process was all online and Crumrine had to submit a recommendation from his music teacher and submit recorded tracks.
“I had to do a repertoire of pieces I’ve done in the past,” he said.
Crumrine was driving home from the airport when he received the news.
“It was very shocking,” he said. “I checked my email and we stopped on the side of the road and opened it, and honestly it’s the first time I’ve cried.”
The program brought Crumrine to New York to perform at Carnegie Hall along with about 90 other high school students from around the U.S. and some from outside the U.S.
Hundreds of students were also brought in to perform in the band during the performance.
An experienced conductor also leads the performance.
“I was expecting a top-tier choir, and that’s what we got, but it was more top-tier than even I thought,” he said.
“We dove deeper into the music than I thought we were going to,” he said. “The director has done this so much that he just knows the emotion of a piece.”
Crumrine said he learned about songs like Stomp on the Fire.
“It has a very deep meaning,” he said. “There were meanings to the songs we were doing I didn’t even know were there.”
Meeting with other singers from around the U.S. was one of the most memorable parts for Crumrine.
“I had a wonderful time getting to know people from other states,” he said. “I’m friends with some of them and have kept in contact over the last few days.”
While in New York, Crumrine also got to do some sight-seeing.
“During the program we were able to attend a Broadway show … and also one of the highlights was the top of the Rockefeller Center,” he said.
Crumrine said stepping on the big stage didn’t make him that nervous.
“I had all this excitement beforehand and after I finished the performance, but when I was there it was all about the work,” he said. “It was very calming to be on the stage actually.”
