Two teenage musicians learned to “push themselves to the limit” when they took their talents to the international stage without much time to practice.Dylan Hollis, 15, and Willis Steede, 17, only had about 10 days to look over their music before they were put through their paces in an orchestra made up of children from across the New York State.The Warwick Academy and The Berkeley Institute students fought off competition to win the all-expenses paid trip to fly the flag for Bermuda.Their school music teachers put their names forward for the annual musical extravaganza organised by The Lions Club.They got the once-in-a-lifetime chance to be part of the Lions Youth Orchestra with 58 students aged 13-18 years old who they’d never met before. Dylan played the tuba and Willis played the trumpet.They spent five days in Rochester in New York State and gave three public performances, including the opening and closing of the New York District Lions Club Annual Convention, which was attended by about 1,000 people.Dylan said: “The fact that I live on a small island but was being given the chance to play with so many other musicians was really, really exciting.“It was a real eye-opener. Seeing there were so many other students who love and enjoy music as much as I do was a great experience.”Willis said: “It was one of the greatest experiences in my life.“What was so overwhelming for me was that the students knew they had to constantly practice until they got it right.“That’s the difference between American and Bermudian students, American students really want to push themselves, over here students don’t have that same passion.”Both students learned they had been selected for the overseas trip only about two weeks before the April 27 departure date.They both said they felt “very humble and very excited,” but the hard work began straight away as they were sent the ten pieces of traditional marching band music.Dylan said: “It was what you would call a rush practice, as we didn’t have much time.”Willis added: “Whether it was at lunchtime or after school, I just kept going over it slowly until I got the right rhythm.”Dylan and Willis handed out Bermuda gifts such as pens and key-chains during their trip, telling their new-found friends that it was “a beautiful island with friendly people.” They joked that: “No one knew where Bermuda was, they asked if it was near Canada or Alaska.”Both students say they made great friends from New York and they are keeping in touch with them via texts and e-mails.Willis joked that he “made even more friends” after an impromptu performance at the last night party. He got up and rapped a song about himself and his experience, which included his own choreographed dance movesBoth musically minded students hope the trip will give them a head start in their future careers.Dylan started to play the piano when he was about eight-years-old, then took up the tuba at Middle School. He admits the tuba was “a strange choice” saying he opted for the musical instrument as “everyone was going for flutes or clarinets.”He has recently passed his tuba grade two exam and wants a career in hotel management “with music involved somehow.”Willis, who has recently taken his grade three exam, started playing the trumpet in Middle School. He also plays the piano, drums and a little bit of guitar.Willis plans to go to school in the UK and it is his hope to “become famous for making my own music.”The Lions Club of Bermuda has been taking young Bermudian musicians to the annual convention for the last 30 years.Stephen Dean of Paget Lions Club, who is soon to be the district governor of the Lions New York State, said it had been a pleasure to see the two Bermudians students performing.He said: “They were around students from all different areas and from different backgrounds, but they did extremely well, they worked hard and became extremely disciplined musically. They did Bermuda proud.”