West Career and Tech sophomore travels to NYC with Honors Orchestra

Carnegie Hall is one of the most famous venues in the U.S., and Las Vegas resident Aaron Lockhart got to play there recently as a member of the 2015 High School Honors Orchestra.

Lockhart, a sophomore at West Career and Technical Academy, 11945 W. Charleston Blvd., performed as part of the High School Honors Performance Series, presented by WorldStrides. He was joined by some of the highest-rated high school performers from across North America and from select schools internationally.

“Carnegie Hall is an acoustically beautiful and historic hall where many great artists and ensembles have performed,” said Frank L. Battisti, conductor emeritus for the New England Conservatory of Music. “The opportunity for students to perform on this stage before a panel of distinguished conductors is a ‘once-in-a lifetime’ experience that will be remembered for a lifetime.”

Lockhart spent the third week of February there. He had never been to New York City. It was a rough start because his flight was delayed two hours.

“I made the shuttle (from JFK) just in time, and one thing I noticed was people driving there are crazy, crazy,” he said. “We got to the Sheraton in Times Square, and I got there … and our chaperone told me we had a one-hour rehearsal in 15 minutes. We’d never, as an orchestra, never played together before as a group. There were some parts I was going, ‘Whoa, that was terrible. They really need help on that part.’ ”

As they got to know one another, it was clear his fellow orchestra members had a misconception about his hometown.

“They were like, ‘You’re from Vegas? Wow, you must have fun all the time,’ ” he said. “I was like, ‘No, I don’t live in a casino like you think.’ ”

Rehearsals took place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but there also were planned outings for the students — Times Square, Rockefeller Center and the Broadway show “On the Town.”

Lockhart said Jeffrey Grogan, conductor of the Honors Orchestra, told them, “Everyone thinks that children cannot perform as well as professional musicians.”

“It was so powerful, that little pep talk he gave us right before the concert,” Lockhart said. “I wasn’t nervous at all. I said to myself, ‘Hey, I have all my music mastered and no worries at all.’ Last year, at The Smith Center, we (the Las Vegas Youth Orchestra) played, and I was just not ready with my music, and my palms were sweaty. But for this one, I was not nervous at all.”

After the big performance, they were treated to a nighttime yacht cruise around the harbor, seeing the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. It included a congratulatory party.

Lockhart’s mother, Wendy, flew in to attend the concert. She recalled how her son had played piano as a child and won awards but never really liked it, so she was surprised when he announced in sixth grade that he wanted to play the viola.

“I was like, ‘Are sure you don’t want to play the violin?’ I was totally against it,” she said. “… I had to force him to practice piano, but I never had to force him to practice viola.”

He joined the orchestra at Rogich Middle School, 235 Pavilion Center Drive, directed by Barbara James. She referred him to a private tutor, Ryan Watson, who advanced his playing so much that he skipped intermediate and jumped right to advanced.

Lockhart is studying for a career in nursing but said there is still that yearning to be a professional viola player, perhaps teaching at the college level or performing with an orchestra such as the Los Angeles or Chicago philharmonics.

“Even though I know being a professional soloist is a long shot,” he said. “The practical job would be to become a nurse because people say, ‘Oh, you can’t become a professional musician when you grow up; you’ll need to have a real job.’ ”

He said his dream is to join the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America next year.

To reach Summerlin Area View reporter Jan Hogan, email jhogan@viewnews.com or call 702-387-2949.