Eight Lakewood Ranch High School musicians earned seats in the Manatee County High School Honor Orchestra after auditioning behind a curtain that hid them from the judges.

The students are Elizabeth Argo, Hailey Birkin, Kai Carlson, Elena Gates, Mariell Martinez Reyes, Stella Percoco, Preston Stanoch and Amira Sulemani, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Each learned audition materials and performed before judges they could not see. The blind process meant to ensure selections are based on sound alone.

Concert set for Oct. 3 in Bradenton

The ensemble will perform Saturday, Oct. 3, at State College of Florida's Neel Performing Arts Center, 5840 26th St. W., Bradenton. Robyn Bell, managing and artistic director of the Pops Orchestra of Bradenton and Sarasota, will conduct the high school group. A middle school honor orchestra, conducted by Katarzyna Bugaj of Florida State University, will also perform that evening.

School also produces two merit semifinalists

The orchestra honors cap a strong stretch for LRHS.

The school produced two of the three 2027 National Merit Scholarship Program semifinalists in the School District of Manatee County: senior Andrew Temple and fellow LRHS student Julian Vallarta. Other Manatee County semifinalists named in the Herald-Tribune column include Aidan Cody of Southeast High School, Andy Dai of Saint Stephen's, and Ursula Paquin and Yu Suefuji of IMG Academy.

Students honored at recent ceremonies

Principal Mike Mullen recognized Vallarta at a school ceremony on Sept. 11 and Temple on Sept. 14. Temple had been absent the day Vallarta was honored.

At the Sept. 14 recognition, Temple said the honor meant a great deal to him because it was the first award he had received from the school. Assistant Principal Lindy Carlson said at the same ceremony that three students across the district reached finalist status and two of them attend Lakewood Ranch High.

Families interested in the Oct. 3 Honor Orchestra concert can find the Neel Performing Arts Center on the State College of Florida's Bradenton campus.