Practice, practice, practice, that’s what it recently took for the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra to get to Carnegie Hall.

Eighty-five musicians recently took that trip of a lifetime, performing in New York City.

Music Director and Conductor Antonio Delgado says it was a great opportunity, “It was well attended and it went really well. I’m really proud of them. We got a really good reaction with a standing ovation and we were really prepared and that is the most important part.”

He adds, for many of these kids, this is an experience they’ve never had before.

“It’s to show the kids what can be achieved with hard work if they are given the opportunity,” Delgado says.

Practice is an important part of being a member of NBYO, but it may not have been all that earned them the trip to New York City.  Credit also goes to a video they produced last year.

“We made a video and it pretty much was making fun of the orchestra. We wanted to make it a kind of tongue-in-cheek thing. It went viral with more than 100, 000 views. After that, we got an email from an organization that invites us to Carnegie Hall. That’s how we got there. They said usually orchestras that attend this Invitational by audition, but they just said if you want to, you can come. We said yes,” Delgado says.