New York City. The Big Apple. Carnegie Hall. The big time.

The Millington Central High School Choir is headed for the big time at the 13th Annual New York Choral Festival.

If you have traveled lately you know that doesn't come cheap. Choir director Jeffrey Murdock said the community has been outstanding in their financial backing once word got out that the kids from Central had distinguished themselves.

World Projects receives many applications from around the world for its festivals every year but, from those, only six ensembles are accepted to participate in the annual festival at Carnegie Hall. Everyone in the Mid-South should be proud of these young people for being selected.

"Mixed reaction; some of the kids honestly did not know what Carnegie Hall was," Murdock said. "We had to explain to them what a big deal an opportunity that it is, but others were excited from the get go."

"When my first reaction was, well kind of cool, you know? But then doing research and found out who's been there and all this and how we got there and it's real exciting now," said Erius Hardaway, student.

With three months before their trip, the choir has collected about half of the funds they need to get to New York City and back, but they still need a little bit more.

If you'd like to help the choir at Millington Central get to Carnegie Hall, you can call Murdock at 901-873-8100. Your donation is tax deductible.

Millington Central will perform on Carnegie Hall's Perelman Stage with five other schools on April 2.