Brontë Wagar spent hundreds of hours practicing for the Royal Conservatory of Music's ARCT exam, and it paid off with one of the best marks in the country.
In fact, Wagar's standing as one of the top cello students in Canada netted her an invitation to participate in a prestigious program at New York's Carnegie Hall.
Wagar, 16, said she "had absolutely no idea" that a top grade could get her an invite to the famed music hall; that discovery, she added, was "super exciting."
"Me and my mom were just over the moon about it, we called all my relatives and everyone was super happy."
The only trouble has been the unbearable wait; Wagar first learned of the invite just before Christmas, and expects to hear back from Carnegie by the end of this month.
If she's accepted into the Carnegie Hall Royal Conservatory Achievement Program Wagar will be among fellow top-ranking RCM students from Canada, aged eight 18, who will audition to perform in a March 27 concert and radio broadcast of the PBS program From the Top, the host of which is acclaimed concert pianist Christopher O'Riley.
"I've kind of just tried to keep calm," Wagar said, adding she's happy just to have been invited to audition.
"It's great anyways, even if I don't make it, so I think I'm probably calmer than my mom right now. I'm just hoping for the best."
The Place des Arts student completed Grades 1 through 10 in the RCM, all of it leading up to the ARCT, or the associate degree, exam.
For about over a year Wagar rehearsed the same five pieces - a Boccherini concerto, two pieces from Bach's Suite No. 5, a Rachmaninoff sonata and a Dvorak concert piece - over and over again.
"I'm still playing a couple of them, but one of them I just never want to play again," she said of the Dvorak piece.
"It's originally for violin. I mean it's fun, but it's just not a real cello piece."
Wagar has been studying at Place des Arts since 2002 with instructor Aleksandra Dziobek.
"Brontë is one of the most gifted and hardworking students I have ever taught," Dziobek said. "Her talent, musicianship and poise in performance have always been inspiring to everybody around her. I couldn't be more proud of Brontë."
Wagar currently plays in the Place des Arts String Quartet and is also the principal cellist in the Kabok String Orchestra, a small group based in New Westminster.
