Students from the Redmond High School (RHS) orchestras have learned the way to Carnegie Hall: It takes practice, practice, practice — and a solid conductor.

A group of 40 students from the RHS String and Chamber Orchestras and the Redmond Junior High School Advanced Orchestra and their conductor, Lake Washington School District teacher Paula C. Ferguson, will be traveling to New York City over Memorial Day weekend to perform at Carnegie Hall.

The students won a coveted performance spot at the famous concert hall by submitting a recording of their best work from the last several years.

“We’ve developed a very strong orchestra program in the Redmond region,” Ferguson said, “but I wanted to push the students to an even higher level. I’m honored that we’ve been recognized for the quality of our playing, and I know that we will deliver a performance worthy of Carnegie Hall.”

RHS principal Jane Todd, who will accompany the group to their Carnegie Hall debut, is enthusiastic in her praise of the students and their conductor. “Thanks to Mrs. Ferguson’s work, we’ve built an orchestra that’s second to none,” Todd said. “We’ll be taking our Mustang pride all the way to New York City.”

The Redmond students will perform three works at Carnegie Hall: three of the five movements of Grieg’s Holberg Suite, Op.40; Vaughn Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, and a string arrangement of Saint-Saens’ “Bacchananale” from Samson and Delilah.

To preview their performance for family and friends, the orchestra will present a local “Carnegie Dress Rehearsal Concert” at the RHS Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 19. The preview concert will be free and open to the public.

For those who will be in New York City, tickets to the RHS Carnegie Hall performance, which will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday, May 24, can be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, logging on to www.carnegiehall.org or visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City. The Carnegie Hall concert will be presented by MidAmerica Productions: www.midamerica-music.com.

Tax-deductible donations to support the Carnegie Hall trip and provide scholarships for students in need will be gratefully accepted by the Redmond Region Orchestra Boosters: 15821 NE 90th Way, Redmond 98052.