Lexington teen plays Carnegie Hall concert

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

A classic joke substitutes “Practice, practice, practice” for turn-by-turn directions to the Manhattan mainstay, but River Bluff High School freshman Madeleine Norman might offer another maxim: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

Madeleine played the violin at Carnegie Hall in July as part of a Junior Honors Performance Series showcase. After abandoning the instrument in elementary school, she resumed her lessons while attending the American Leadership Academy of Lexington for middle school.

“I had this intuition in me like ‘Oh, maybe I should start picking up violin again,’” Madeleine recalled. “So I started playing violin.”

Under instructor Shadaye Romelien’s tutelage at ALA, Madeleine developed a fondness and familiarity with the instrument.

“I just had a passion for it,” she said. “It was like it was just within me, it was like something that I just needed to do, and I ended up picking it up pretty quickly.”

Romelien nominated Madeleine for the Junior Honors Performance Series, which selected 70 students in grades 6-8 to perform at Carnegie Hall, drawing from a pool of more than 10,000 nominees throughout the United States.

Madeleine ventured to the Big Apple with her mom, Charito Abando, who accompanied the student musician through the performance series’ parent program.

“Students received their sheet music 60 days before arriving in New York City, giving them time to become familiar with their individual parts,” Abando explained in an email to the Chronicle. “They met one another and the conductor for the first time on the second day of their arrival, when rehearsals began.”

World-renowned composer and conductor Kirt Mosier conducted the student orchestra.

“He was like, ‘I'm your cheerleader. I'm always here with you guys. If you guys mess up, it's fine. I'm your supporter,’” Madeleine said.

Madeleine described stepping onto the Carnegie Hall stage as an otherworldly experience.

“Walking out there, to me, was kind of airy and kind of like ghostly, I would say, because there it was very empty and such a huge place, and like every single sound you made echoed through the hall,” she said. “And it just felt like it was like embedded in your soul.”

Performing at Carnegie Hall wasn’t the only culture shock for Madeleine, who had the chance to explore bustling New York City on her trip. She called the overall experience “definitely a 10 out of 10.”

“We did do a lot of sightseeing,” she said. “…Statue of Liberty, we went to the main library in New York City. Everything we did was by walking, so we wrote about the New York City experience with the population. Everybody was on their way to work and always on the go. So I think it was great to see the contrast from South Carolina to Times Square.”

An aspiring veterinarian, Madeleine encourages friends and classmates to learn a musical instrument even if they don’t plan to pursue music as a career.

“No matter if you think you can play or not, or no matter if you think it's too late or you think you just don't have time, there's always time for things that you want to do and hobbies that you want to learn,” she said. “It's definitely something that's worth your time, even if you don't want to do it professionally.”