Cui Bingxuan, 14, plays violin in the Beijing Youth Orchestra. The student at the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China has experience playing with her school's symphony orchestra abroad but it will be the first time that she performs at Carnegie Hall.

"I watched lots of videos of musicians performing at Carnegie Hall and I cannot believe that I will perform there," says Bingxuan. "What makes us very proud is that we will perform Chinese music works there."

Su Qi, the concertmaster of the Beijing Youth Orchestra, who is in his first year of pursuing a master's degree as a violinist at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, says that, "rehearsals started in May and because we all have our school classes, we tried to make the best use of our spare time to make sure the rehearsals go well".

"Many of the members (of the Beijing Youth Orchestra) don't know one another and we became friends during the intensive training and rehearsals. We will make more friends during our days in the US."

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn