OHS duo returns from Carnegie

Please excuse Odessa High students Jonathan Ortiz and Jonathan Ramos if they have some extra spring in their step. Playing Carnegie Hall in front of 1,800 people can do that to you.

The percussionists returned to Odessa on Monday after spending nearly a week in New York for the 2011 American High School Honors Performance Series, where they were among a group of six percussionists selected from across the United States and Canada. The week culminated with a performance Saturday at Carnegie.

“It was really breathtaking to see a stage where a lot of great people have performed,” Ortiz, a junior, said.

The week also included a visit to the set of the Today show, as well as getting to see the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty, Ortiz said. But both named getting to see the Broadway musical “Wicked” among their favorite experiences.

“It was just great music with great showmanship,” Ortiz said. “And the actors, the cast, were just great.”

Both are even considering playing music in the theater as possible careers.

“Now I have a dream that I want to live in New York and be a musician in a Broadway show,” Ramos said.

Ramos was moved by getting to play with performers from around the country.

“It was cool, I heard different accents and different languages,” he said. “But when the language we speak is music, it’s all the same language. It’s nice to hear different interpretations of how music is supposed to sound.”

Ortiz and Ramos, a senior, were accompanied by Odessa High band director Bill Harden and assistant band director Jimmy Olague, their percussion teacher.

“Oh man, they did fantastic,” Harden said. “It was a magnificent experience and the performance was spectacular.”

Ortiz said he hopes more students get to play Carnegie in the future.

“This has been the most rewarding and best experience so far,” he said. “It was great to be able to play with the best students around the country.”