Durant High School Orchestra looking for support before trip to Carnegie Hall in NYC

PLANT CITY, Fla. - The Durant High School Chamber Orchestra was one of six high schools selected to perform at Carnegie Hall in March 2026. 

What we know:

The group will get 30 minutes on the stage to perform their set, and right now, it sits at six songs, but that could change.

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There is a minimum of 40 performers to be eligible to play in this concert series.

"As of yesterday, we are like right at that threshold," Emory said.

They had to apply last year, and, despite already being accepted, the group is facing funding issues. Jason Emory, the Durant High School Orchestras and Percussion director, said the group is very diverse in backgrounds and some cannot afford the trip.

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"We have our suburban kids, we have our very rural kids, and then we also have a migrant immigrant pop population from the farm workers," Emory said.

If some cannot go, that might put the whole trip in jeopardy. Despite current setbacks, Emory is positive.

"We will do whatever it takes to make sure every student can get on that stage for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Emory said.

Big picture view:

Each student owes $3,000 to go on the trip and some are behind on payments. And for many in this elite group, that is just not feasible.

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"The majority of students here can't afford a $3,000 trip," Emory said. "We are, I think, one or two percentage points away from being a Title I school at Durant." 

The students have worked hard to get this far. They started as freshman the same year their orchestra teachers started teaching at Durant.

"It really feels like a dream come true, because all of our hard work now leads up to this," said Jazmin O'Neill, a senior in the orchestra.

Now, the students are working to bridge the funding gap.

"There's still a few payments that need to be made to get us there," Emory said.

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They have done fundraisers and are now looking for donors and sponsors to help ease the burden on all students.

Why you should care:

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with many professional musicians never getting on the stage at Carnegie Hall.

"We come from such a small town that this is a big opportunity for all us students," O'Neill said.

"This is probably the most exciting thing I've ever done as a teacher," Emory said. "And, I'm thrilled to be able to take this group of students there."

This would be a learning opportunity outside of music. Many students have never been on a plane or outside of Florida.

"I think this is really more about that in that intrinsic sense of accomplishment of hard work and resulting in a performance that again transcends the notes on the page," said Bruce Herrmann, the director of bands at Durant High School.

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"It's like the season finale of a show to me," O'Neill said. "And I'm like, this is how we're going to end it. We're going to end it with Carnegie."

They have their dreams and their talent and said with the community's support, they hope to be on that stage, for the performance of a lifetime.

If you are interested in supporting the group financially, you can reach Jason Emory at jason.emory@hcps.net and Bruce Herrmann at bruce.herrmann@hcps.net.

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