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WAVERLY, Neb. (AP) — Alyssa Pracht wanted to play the French horn when she was in fifth grade, but her "audition" — a way for teachers to decide who would play what — required being able to bring forth a sound, any sound, from the instrument.
It didn't go so well.
"I did really bad, and oboe was the only instrument left," she told the Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/1BTgg9b).
So oboe it was.
Good thing, too, because the young Waverly student found she liked the slim woodwind instrument.
And she kept playing for seven years — all the way to New York City's Carnegie Hall.
Since teachers chose the oboe for her in fifth grade, Pracht played in the middle and high school bands, as principal oboist in the All-State band three years running, and in honor bands through the University of Nebraska's Lincoln and Omaha campuses.
This fall, her teacher nominated her to perform in the prestigious High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall.
Pracht was one of more than 10,000 applicants from the United States and other countries — and one of 500 selected to perform in February.
Only the top players in the country are selected, said her longtime teacher, Susan Mausolf.
Mausolf said she's had many talented students in her 20 years of teaching, but Pracht is the first she has nominated for the honor.
"She's just a wonderful oboist. She's accomplished so much in the time that I've known her and worked with her," Mausolf said. "I just thought it would be a great experience for her. I've never thought it would fit another student as well as Alyssa. She just deserved it."
The 17-year-old senior at Waverly High School has some innate musical talent — a good ear, and she's technically gifted — but it's more than that, Mausolf said. She is passionate and dedicated. She works hard.
"There's definitely talent there," she said. "But talent alone doesn't get you as far as putting in the effort and time."
Pracht also has put the time into her academic studies. She has taken most of the Advanced Placement classes offered at Waverly High School and is ranked first in her class.
That earned her a Regents Scholarship to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a presidential scholarship to the University of Colorado-Boulder. She's still deciding where she wants to enroll, but wherever it is, she'll major in music.
Ultimately, she said, she'd like to teach music at the college level, where she could also perform.
She plays tennis in addition to participating in the band, where she played the marimba for three years during marching season. This year, she was the drum major.
Pracht has always loved music and sang in church choirs as a young girl. She's also an accomplished pianist and has been taking lessons since she was 7.
Even when she was a middle school student who needed a little prodding to practice, it didn't take long for her to be absorbed in the music, said her mom, Dona Pracht.
Alyssa has been making her own oboe reeds for some time now, Mausolf said. That's something accomplished oboists always do, but it is rare among high school students.
"The oboe is a wonderful medium for her to express herself," said Mausolf.
Last year, Pracht earned UNL's Nebraska Young Artist Award and has competed in various piano and instrumental festivals over the years.
"She's always striving for more," Mausolf said. "She sets the bar so high for herself. She's always looking for the next challenge, and she accomplishes it."
Part of the Carnegie Hall nomination process included submitting an audition recording. Pracht said she was game to try but wasn't sure she'd make the cut.
"I was in shock," she said.
Mausolf was less surprised, and will now help her prepare the four pieces she will perform in February.
Pracht's mom and her dad, James, a clarinetist in college who now works at Dietze Music in Omaha, and her younger sister Kayla, who also is a musician, will go with her to New York.
She'll spend five days sightseeing, practicing and performing.
Getting to play with some of the best student musicians in the nation will be one of the best parts of the experience, Mausolf said.
"Being able to play with other students who have that same drive and talent and to do it in Carnegie Hall, that's sort of the pinnacle of success," she said.
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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, http://www.journalstar.com
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