Granite Hills students play in Tulare County Honor Orchestra on Saturday 1/26/08.

Seven Granite Hills’ students recently embarked on an amazing musical journey. The Tulare County Music Educators Association held the honor orchestra concert in Visalia at the College of the Sequoias Saturday, Jan. 19.

Sixty young musicians from Tulare County participated in the musical event. Amongst the masters of violins, cellos, and other string instruments were Granite’s very own Linda Ruiz Velasco Campos, Fabian Martinez, Gabriel Alcantar, Julio Gonzales-Maya, Alexandra Smith, Michael Smith, and Jennifer Castrita. The students were chosen by their teacher to participate in the event.

"It's a different kind of feeling to play at such a high level," said violinist, Smith. Smith made has been playing in the event for five years, and has been playing the violin for about 10 years.

"It was fun to see how we compare to other players in the county," said cello player, Gonzales-Maya. This was Gonalez-Maya's second year participating in honor orchestra, and he plans on making a third and final appearance his senior year.

The participants only had a week to learn the music, which was “Suite for Strings” by John Rutter, “Symphony VI” by Felix Mendelssohn, “Concerto Grosso” by Handle, and “M to the Third Power” by Carold Nunez. They also had to adapt to playing with a different conductor than who they were use to. Some were nervous, and others were stressed. "But at the end, it was worth it," said Gonzales-Maya.