Ten Akins orchestra and band students got the chance to perform with dozens of members of the Austin Symphony Orchestra during a set of performances on campus on Jan. 25.

The performances are part of the ASO’s annual high school concert program, where professional musicians perform at various Austin-area high schools. The 45-minute concert allows high school music students to play side-by-side with the Symphony. Performers with the Akins Orchestra included Pedro Salas, Fabiola Rodrigues Flores, Hailee Rowley, Dominyk Yanez, and Josiah Orta. Musicians with the Akins Band included Jayden Medina, Carolina Sanchez, Francisca Williams, Carlos Garcia, and Arianna Saez.

Tim Shaffer, trumpet player with the Austin Symphony said, exposing teens to orchestra music is important because the program of songs they performed relates to current-day issues.

“I think it’s very important for students to hear not just the orchestral music, things they might not hear otherwise,” he said, “The things that we talked about today in this program are issues that teenagers and all people are facing today. Even though these pieces were written 100 years ago.”

Sophomore Hailee Rowley said it was a great learning experience for her and it was exciting to be in a new environment.

“It felt really great. They were very supportive and was a great learning experience,” she said. “It was exciting for me to be in that kind of environment.”

Sophomore Jayden Medina said it was exhilarating playing with top-tier performers, and that it was a small stepping stone into his musical career.

“It was really exhilarating. It was like a different experience performing with top-tier players,” he said. “The performance was to me a small stepping stone into the next portion of my musical career.”