by Lamai Hons

I am reaching out to ask for your help in funding a once-in-a-lifetime educational opportunity for me to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York and Royal Festival Hall in London in 2024.

My name is Lamai and I am a 14 year old freshman at Orcas Island High School. I have been in private music lessons with Rachel Bishop here on Orcas Island since I was 6 years old, and practicing daily since I started. At the end of last school year, my public school strings teacher, Pamela Wright, nominated me to audition for the High School Honors Performance Series. Out of thousands of nominations I was accepted and will perform in the Honors String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the Honors Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall.

The Honors Performance Series is a prestigious national program that was established with the goal of bringing together talented student musicians to learn from some of the world’s top master conductors and composers. If you would like to learn more about the program itself, here is a link to the site: https://honorsperformance.org/

This would be such an incredible opportunity for me to expand my horizons. Music has been an important part of my life for years, and as I get older it has been a great way for me to express myself creatively and emotionally. Through this program I hope to gain the unique first-hand experience of what it can feel like to be performing at these incredible venues with peers that love music as much as I do. I would have the opportunity to receive instruction and guidance from professionals that have made music their career.

I feel very proud to have been chosen as a finalist and to be able to share this huge accomplishment with my family, friends, teachers and community. Any help you are able to offer would be so appreciated, and I truly cannot do this without your support.

I am hoping to fundraise for the cost of both programs, travel expenses, flights and food. The estimated total for me to attend both is $9,760.

To donate, visit https://gofund.me/ff061324.