Olathe cellist, 13, prepares for Carnegie Hall

When you’re 13 and you play a musical instrument, you are used to giving the occasional recital. But most middle school kids aren’t playing that recital at a venue as renowned as Carnegie Hall in New York City.

Ethan Ching, a seventh-grade cellist at Olathe’s California Trail Middle School, is headed to the iconic performance hall to perform June 25 after being selected for the 2016 Middle School Honors Performance Series Orchestra. Out of thousands of applicants, Ethan was one of 400 middle and high school students chosen from the United States and Canada. He is only one of three students selected from the state of Kansas and the only one from Johnson County.

Ethan was told about the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall by Sherry Wann, director of orchestras at California Trail Middle School. In January, Ethan recorded a piece of music that met certain criteria and submitted that along with a resume to the selection committee. Then, he had to wait an agonizing three months to find out if he made the cut. Finally, he received the good news.

“I was really surprised and honored to be chosen,” Ethan said. “I still can’t believe it.”

Ethan has been playing the cello since he was in the third grade. In addition to playing in his school orchestra, he also takes private lessons.

Ethan’s mom, Joan Wu, said that his school orchestra director was impressed by his talent and encouraged him to audition for the elite orchestra.

“We didn’t expect that he would get chosen because it is very competitive and there were many good people who auditioned,” Wu said.

Now Ethan’s family is making plans to join him on his travels to New York City by turning his unique opportunity into a family vacation. They’ll be in the audience when Ethan takes the stage at Carnegie Hall for the concert, which is open to the public.

“We are very honored and pleased that someone recognized Ethan,” Wu said.

Ethan said he is grateful for the chance to perform on the Carnegie Hall stage.

“All of my teachers say it’s a really big honor to play there and to be able to play there is a great achievement,” Ethan said. “A lot of famous musicians have played there.”

For Ethan, the hard work really began when he learned of the honor. He spent several months practicing four difficult pieces of music that range in length from five minutes long to more than 10 minutes long. He’ll even have to memorize the music for the performance.

Once he arrives in New York City on June 22, he’ll spend the majority of his time rehearsing with the rest of the students. He will get some down time in the afternoons where he will get an opportunity to tour the city and take in a Broadway musical.

Ethan’s excited about the chance to explore a city as big as New York, but he’s also happy about something else.

“I’m looking forward to interacting with other students and to meeting some of the best conductors in the world,” Ethan said.

Music has always been a big part of Ethan’s life. He has performed with the local group, Heartland Chamber Music, for two years. He said he loves to play the cello because he finds the music so soothing. And while he also enjoys other activities like playing on a competitive basketball team and being outside as often as he can, it’s playing the cello that holds a special place in his heart.

“I feel like I achieve something after I perform a piece of music,” Ethan said. “I like the sound of the cello when I play; I like the rich tone of the sound.”

This story was originally published May 26, 2016 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Olathe cellist, 13, prepares for Carnegie Hall."