With the New York skyline rising in the background, Lawrence Children's Choir members, from left, Emma Graham, Sidney Newlin, Hunter Ramer, Kate Hiebert and Kerrie Leinmiller-Renick goof off for the camera. The girls were among about 75 young vocalists from Lawrence who performed in mid-April at Carnegie Hall.

After the Lawrence Children's Choir's performance at Carnegie Hall, the Frank family pauses to document the moment. Pictured, from left, are Barry, Nolan, Garrett and Tammy Frank. The choir toured New York April 13-16.

When they walked onto the stage at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, the young vocalists in the Lawrence Children’s Choir couldn’t help but be stunned.

Their eyes grew wide, and their mouths dropped open – first in awe, and then in song. It was perhaps the best they’d sounded all year, says Janeal Krehbiel, artistic director of the group.

“The kids just sang beautifully,” she says. “They saved the best for Carnegie.”

The choir visited New York April 13-16 to sing at one of America’s most famous performing arts venues and to take in the sights. For many of the children, the journey was the pinnacle of a season of hard work.

“These aren’t usual kids,” says Marilyn Crabb Epp, the choir’s accompanist and co-founder. “They’re a cut above. They commit to this.”

And it’s quite a commitment. Rehearsals are every week. Absences must be made up, no excuses.

But there are rewards, like the trip to New York and the opportunity to perform at Carnegie.

“It was a lot bigger than I’ve ever seen before. It was really open,” eighth-grader Mia Phillips says of the venue’s stage.

Krehbiel, who also took the choir to Carnegie Hall in 2000, says it’s an exciting place to perform.

“It has a magic feeling,” she says. “You walk out on the stage, and you can almost feel the history coming out of the wood floor.”

The trip, which Crabb Epp says marked a first flight for some of the young singers, included time to tour and experience the Big Apple.

“I felt like people could tell we were tourists,” Phillips says. Matching shirts, cameras and name tags may have had something to do with that, she says.

Times Square was a popular destination among the students, who were able to move around with smaller groups accompanied by parent chaperones. The singers also got a kick out of what’s known as the Whispering Wall in Grand Central Station, says eighth-grader Erica Hernly.

The wall is at the intersection of three passages in the station. By standing and facing the wall diagonally opposite from someone else, you can carry on a conversation without even facing one another.

Even the disappointments turned into opportunity on the trip.

“We tried to go to the Statue of Liberty, but it was closed. So we just wandered around for a while,” Phillips says.

The choir was in New York during a massive rainstorm that flooded parts of the subway and generally made life more difficult for the city of more than 8 million people.

“(The kids) had to walk over to Carnegie in garbage bags because it was raining so hard,” Krehbiel recalls.

The gloomy weather could have had something to do with the biggest surprise the students had while in New York.

“We tried to count how many smiles we could get as we were riding on the bus,” says eighth-grader Katie Meyer. “We only got three.”

The trip cost the students about $1,500 each, which did not include all of their meals. Fundraising efforts helped make the journey possible for everyone in the group, Crabb Epp says.

“All the kids, if they really want to, can earn their way,” she says.

The choir makes a significant trip every year. Previous destinations have included Germany and Montana. Next year, the choir will travel to a music festival at Denver University. The event only accepts 300 singers, and the Lawrence Children’s Choir is bringing 75 to 80.

Auditions for children interested in joining next year’s choir, which includes students in grades one though nine, are May 15-16.