Eastlake High School senior Georgia Newman-Taylor was worried someone made a mistake.

She expected someone to say, “Sorry, you’re the wrong person to be here.”

But Newman-Taylor was right where she belonged, as one of about 350 vocalists from around the nation to perform at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, last month. The 18-year-old was one of six Washington state high schoolers to earn a spot on stage for the National Association for Music Education’s 2015 All-National Honor Ensembles in mixed choir.

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” the Redmond resident said. “It was completely unbelievable from the moment I got there to the moment I walked on stage.”

Over the four-day conference, Newman-Taylor had the privilege of meeting and learning from passionate vocalists and instructors, like Dr. Ann Howard Jones, a music professor and director at Boston University.

Newman-Taylor said, leading up to the Oct. 28 performance, the group practiced each day for 10-plus hours.

“It was probably the most intensive choir boot camp I’ve ever been at,” Newman-Taylor said.

Newman-Taylor, who has been in choir at Eastlake since February 2014, said the experience was humbling. “These other students were absolutely amazing,” she said.

She credits her Eastlake choir teacher, Andrey Spichak, for making it through the the district and state competitions in order to sing at the Grand Old Opry.

“I really couldn’t have done it without his help,” she said. “It’s amazing to think you got chosen out of thousands of people who all deserve it and want it just as bad as you do.”

Spichak, who has been at Eastlake since 2004, first met Newman-Taylor in his guitar class. He didn’t realize she could sing until he overheard her in the hall.

“I was so surprised to hear her singing with such a beautiful voice,” he said. Now, “I enjoy her singing everyday.”

Newman-Taylor and the rest of the Eastlake choir will next perform at their holiday concert Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at the high school, located at 400 228th Ave. N.E., Sammamish. The concert is free and open to the public.