I love to sing. From elementary school to the church choir, I have been singing choral music for over eight years. Last year, I joined an experienced and challenging group, the Gwinnett Young Singers. Understandably, I was nervous about my first concert.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, ASO, was playing Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The piece needed a young choir, so we were invited to accompany them. They are a world renowned group and my fear was that once they heard me sing they would stop playing and throw me out.

We rehearsed many times without the ASO before our one practice with them. At every practice, I questioned whether our group was good enough to be singing with this giant orchestra. All of my fears disappeared when we had our first rehearsal with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra two days before our performance. I had never seen a live orchestra the caliber of the ASO, and they simply blew me away. Singing with them was amazing, like I was singing with God’s own orchestra. Suddenly, I could not wait until opening night.

August 2nd was the date we were to perform at the Verizon Amphitheater. The day was hot. The bright lights shining above made us hot and sweaty before we even began the program. I couldn’t make out any faces, but I knew the whole audience was listening intently. I could feel my fellow chorus members’ excitement while we waited for our turn to sing. When the time finally arrived, everyone sang their hearts out, letting our sound be heard over the orchestra.

As soon as the concert was over, we left the stage and were released to our families. My dad came up to me. “That was incredible. I can see how the ASO is one of the top orchestras in the world,” he said, “This experience was a once in a lifetime chance to sing with an orchestra of this caliber.” In less than a year, we sang with the ASO two more times. I am so happy to have all these remarkable experiences.