On April 3, Polly Lehman, senior, stood on the Carnegie Hall stage in New York City and addressed a sold-out crowd of 2,800 people.

“Everything was gold,” Lehman said. “All of the trim and the details on the walls [were] gold, and every one of the seats was red velvet, so [it was] pretty cool.”

In fact, Carnegie Hall is one of only two stages in all of the U.S. that can hold all four hundred members of HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir. All members are in grades eight through twelve, coming from 31 chapters across the U.S. and Israel.

“The coolest part about it is that the music that [we] learn is all the exact same. So a chapter in Miami is learning the exact same music that we’re learning here in Minneapolis,” Lehman said. “The girl that I sat next to sang every single note perfectly the way I would, and I think it’s really cool that someone from all the way across the world would be able to sit next to me and we could sing the exact same music for an hour and a half.”

Lehman is currently acting as one of HaZamir’s two international teen leader co-chairs, running teen leader orientations and coordinating events with HaZamir’s international director as the choir meets up to perform at various events throughout the year.

Specifically, she is very proud of being a part of and leading one of HaZamir’s newest chapters.

“[The Minneapolis chapter] started three years ago, which is super cool, so I’m really glad that it grew to be one of the largest chapters in HaZamir,” Lehman said.

Lehman is disappointed that her time as a teen HaZamir leader is coming to a close, but she remains appreciative of the group and proud of her achievements within it.