By Mark Ambrogi

A group of Carmel High School music students packed a slew of activities into four fun-filled days in New York City.

“I think my favorite was seeing the four shows, that was definitely a highlight of the trip,” sophomore Sydney Greene said. “Then just getting to experience the New York City atmosphere was fun. We were constantly out in the city.”

Greene was one of 26 CHS students who made the New York trip, along with seven adults including CHS choir teachers John Burlace and Kathrine Kouns and principal John Williams. The students are all applied music class members. The group flew out early on Jan. 13 and returned Jan. 16.

The trip included seeing four plays,  “Waitress,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Holiday Inn,” and “Dear Evan Hansen.”

“I really loved ‘Waitress’ and ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ was amazing, too,” Greene said.

The plays were the thing for junior Anja Reese, too.

“For me, the best part of the trip was getting the chance to experience four amazingly different shows with my classmates and teachers,” Reese said.

The students attended a workshop with two dancers who have been in Broadway shows.

“They taught us some dances they’ve been in and we had some talk-back session where we could ask them questions and they talked about their life,” Greene said.

Reese said the most valuable part was getting to speak with a Broadway performer “and get a better understanding of what it’s like to be part of a professional show.”

The group also took a backstage tour of the Radio City Music Hall and we went to the 9/11 Museum.

“Saturday night we had a dinner cruise where we sailed by the Statue of Liberty,” Greene said.

Kouns, director of choirs, described it as a great trip and plans a similar trip next January.

“The applied music class is a musical theater master class that helps students learn and develop solo repertoire, as well as honing their audition techniques, drafting a resume, and preparing for auditions in the professional performance community,” Kouns said.