Sussex Tech senior to play in Carnegie Hall

Growing up, many childhood musicians aspire to play under the lights of a venue as prestigious as Carnegie Hall. Some spend entire careers hoping to make their way into Manhattan to play there.

For Chelsea Lee, she'll be doing so in her senior year of high school.

The Sussex Technical High School student from Milford is part of a group of students from around the world who will play as part of the High School Honor Performance Series in February.

The program includes two full days of rehearsals before the students get to perform under the direction of conductors Jeffrey Grogan, Sharon Lavery, and Dr. Eph Ehly.

Lee has seen Carnegie Hall from the outside, but has yet to step inside, she said. When she learned about making it into the program, she talked about it for days, and she's excited for the opportunity.

"Just the feeling of being on stage, where so many other great musicians have been. It's something that I can't really get a hold of," Lee said. "I just want to be able to get that feeling when I get on there."

Lee has played violin since she was 6 years old, when her mother insisted she learn the instrument.

"My mom, she never got to play music when she was young," she said. "When she had kids, the first thing she wanted was for us to be able to be involved in some kind of art. She was fascinated by the violin and she wanted us to learn how to play it."

Over the years, Lee took private lessons to get better at her craft. In 2012, she earned a spot in the Delaware All State Orchestra. By then, she grew an appreciation for playing the instrument.

"Now that I'm older and I've come so far in my musical career, I have to say I don't regret it and I'm really, really glad she made me do this for so long," she said.

She auditioned for the same program in her sophomore year of high school, but did not make the cut. It served as motivation for her to audition again.

"I was not as musically prepared and I didn't know what to expect from it," she said about her first audition. "I felt there was a need to be able to accomplish this. It's everyone's dream to be able to play in Carnegie Hall. I wanted to try again and see if I could get in."

With Sussex Tech lacking an orchestra program, her outlet to play the violin is limited to a youth ensemble she recently joined at her church and playing with the Dover Symphony Orchestra, where she has been a member for four years. She gets her music fix at school by playing piccolo and flute in the school's marching and concert bands. It wasn't until mid-October when the school's first-year band director, Ian Kenney, knew Lee even played violin.

The flute and the violin have some parallels as far as reading music, he said, but the techniques required for the woodwind and stringed instruments are worlds apart.

Kenney will be a chaperone for the trip to New York City.

"It's experiences like this that take a musician to the next level," he said. "It gives them an opportunity to see what the next level is because it removes that glass ceiling. I think it helps someone break through what they think is possible and allows them to see things in a different way."

As for what's next after high school, Lee is in the process of applying for colleges, with the idea of potentially minoring in music and the hopes of joining a college orchestra and looking for more opportunities to play.

jbleiweis@dmg.gannett.com

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On Twitter @JonBleiweis

ONLINE VIDEO

Listen to a recording of Chelsea Lee playing violin in a video at DelmarvaNow.com.