To Eric A. Larson, music is "the highest form of communication and the purest."
And to an orchestral musician such as Mr. Larson, the ultimate goal is to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
"It's an icon in the country for chamber music," he said. "So much has happened there and it's so full of history."
The 20-year-old Boston University music performance major from Westminster realized his dream Christmas Eve when he played at the venerable hall with the 1994 New York String Orchestra Seminar.
The 60-member group of high school and college students from all over the country will give a second and final concert in the famed symphony hall at 8 p.m. tomorrow.
"I love music," he said in a interview between rehearsals last week. "I always wanted to play the violin but I didn't have the time, so I started playing the double bass -- it sounded interesting."
The double bass provides the rhythm and foundation for the orchestra, he explained.
It is the root of the orchestra, with the other instruments playing above the bass.
The double bass is 6 feet to 8 feet tall, with four strings that provide the lowest bass sound a stringed instrument can make.
Mr. Larson is one of five double bass players with this 26th annual New York String Orchestra Seminar, a professional music training project sponsored by New School Concerts and the Carnegie Hall Corp. The seminar, begun by the late conductor and violinist Alexander Schneider in 1968, auditions hundreds of students ages 15 to 22 from cities around the country. The top 60 are given a full scholarship to go to New York to prepare for and perform two concerts in 11 days.
"I auditioned in November and came to New York Sunday [Dec. 18] and we started rehearsals Monday," Mr. Larson said. "We're playing five pieces of music and rehearsing about nine hours a day.
"They sent us the music ahead so we can learn the notes, then we get the stylistic interpretation here," he said.
The stylistic interpretation, and leadership for the concerts, is being provided by Jaime Laredo, a well-known violinist and conductor. Saturday's concert featured compositions by Bach, while tomorrow night's offers works by Elgar, Beethoven and Mozart.
While the program is a lot of hard work, it's also a lot of fun for Mr. Larson.
"The rehearsals have been very productive, it's a very good orchestra," he said. "It's honing my skills as an orchestral player."
His love of classical, symphonic and chamber music comes from his mother, Nancy, who is a student and research assistant in music literature at Towson State University.
When Mr. Larson began playing the double bass in sixth grade, the instrument was larger than he was. But now, at 6 feet 1 inch, he nearly matches the instrument in size.
Mr. Larson and the double bass became a team.
Hours of daily practice earned him spots on the All-County, All-State, All-Eastern and All-National orchestras while in high school.
His talent is such that, a year after he started playing, he began studying with Bob Barney, principal double bassist, and Owen Cummings, a member of the double bass section, both from the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
He also spent two summers studying at Tanglewood Music Institute in Massachusetts where the Boston Symphony Orchestra has its summer home.
After graduating from Westminster High School in 1992, he earned a music scholarship from Boston University.
This year has been exceptionally fulfilling for Mr. Larson. He spent last summer in Europe touring with the German Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, where he played for the president of Germany.
"That was my first time in Europe," he said. "It was fascinating learning about other cultures and people."
His ultimate dream, he said, is to be part of a major orchestra and to "play music, not just notes, with as much power as I can, and to pass it on to others, to spread the word about it to others."