This edition of Salina Sees You, brought to you by Drs. Cooper & Banninger, LLC Family Vision Care (1000 E. Cloud) presents:
Five Salina Central seniors:
Ellie Riekhof (Soprano), Mac Sheforgen (Tenor), Madison Berndt (Soprano), Wyatt Angell (Tenor) and Marcos Lira (Bass) who will be performing at the historic Carnegie Hall in February 2026.
Legend says, a pedestrian on 57th Street sees a musician getting out of a cab and asks, “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” Without pause, the artist replies wearily, “Practice.”
These five students have done exactly that.
Each of them share their thoughts, along with their music teacher of how they accomplished a once-and-a-lifetime dream to perform at the Big Apple, alongside musicians from across the world.
By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
This is the first time a total of five students from Salina Central are heading to Carnegie Hall, which breaks the record of students from Central who have gone on this trip in the past.
All said they are super excited to head to New York, with a few of them being their first time ever to the Big Apple.
These students will be performing at the big stage where names such as Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, The Beatles and Jay-Z to name a few have performed there.
“I don't think it has even hit us yet, that we are going to New York and it is just unreal at this point," said Angell.
“It is nice to know that I am going to be up there with the best of the best, said Lira.
“I never thought I would get the opportunity, but here we are going to New York!” said Berndt
As part of the process of getting selected to perform at Carnegie Hall, the students took songs they have previously prepared and recorded it again before sending it to the International Choir.
Additionally, the students added their accomplishments and a selection of musical pieces they have performed before they were selected to perform at the historical venue.
Before the students met the requirements, their music teacher Ryan Holmquist nominated the students he thought could have a good chance of being selected.
Holmquist stated this is most amount of students he has taught who are going to Carnegie Hall.
“It makes my job pretty easy, to work with students who really excel at what they do and they are pretty self-motivated," Holmquist said. "This is very special group of students.”
Around one student in 2019 and a couple of students, post COVID-19 pandemic have performed at Carnegie Hall under Holmquist. Holmquist is in his 21st year of teaching and 18 years being apart of the music department at Central.
The students stated what they are looking forward to the most about performing at Carnegie Hall.
“I am excited to see how that stage feels, because we all have never performed in front of crowd of that magnitude," said Lira.
“I mostly wonder how it will sound in there and I can’t wait to see all the lights and everything that is apart of the venue," said Berndt.
“I am sure once we get there it’s going to fully hit us that we are here, it’s pretty surreal," said Sheforgen.
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This edition of Salina Sees You is brought to you by Drs. Cooper & Banninger, LLC Family Vision Care (1000 E. Cloud). Call (785) 823-6391 or visit today, to make an appointment.
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"A threefold cord is not quickly broken"
Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, "a threefold cord is not quickly broken" in the context of when people work together, it creates a great reward.
The friendship of these students go way back to their middle school days. They have grown up and worked together in music for awhile. The students gave their comments on how it will feel going to the big stage with each other.
“I am excited to go with this group, I have been friends with them for a long time," said Sheforgen.
“Auditioning with this group, definitely made me more confident in myself, because constantly each and every one of us have just always lifted ourselves up," said Lira.
“It all contributes to a really special relationship we have with each other. It is going to be amazing and I can’t wait to spend this time with them," said Berndt.
The students will meet all the members of the International Choir and rehearse with a world-renowned conductor. They will then perform the concert in front of thousands towards the end of the first week of February 2026.
Riekhof is currently committed to play softball at St. Olaf College, and plans to be apart of the choir at St. Olaf. She also plans to pursue a music education and vocal education career as well.
Sheforgen plans to attend college and study journalism. He is considering being apart of theatre and/or choir as well.
Berndt is committed to Kansas State University and plans to be apart of their choir program. She also plans to obtain a degree in media.
Angell plans on attending law school, but is considering being apart of a church choir when he gets older.
Lira plans to attend Bethany College to study being a History or English teacher, but will also consider choir and theatre as well.
Salina sees you, Riekhof, Sheforgen, Berndt, Angell and Lira.
If you would like to share your personal story or know anyone who may have a story that will inspire each reader, please email Salina Post News Director, Nicolas Fierro: [email protected] or [email protected] (during regular business hours).
You can also contact: (785) 656-9856 (during regular business hours).