If Maxwell Prado had listened to his mom, he wouldn’t have performed three cello solos at New York’s Carnegie Hall on Thursday night.
The rising Samohi freshman was one of just 100 young musicians from around the world invited to this year’s Honors Performance Series. The program pairs teens with master conductors and showcases their work on the world’s most iconic stages.
“It was an amazing experience,” Maxwell, 14, tells The Sun. “It just felt surreal, being able to play there after so many years of trying, practicing, and getting ready for this moment.”
He discovered cello in fourth grade during a post-COVID music class at Edison Language Academy. But his mom, Elizabeth Banks, wasn’t immediately sold on the 48-inch instrument.
“She wanted me to play the trombone,” he remembers. “She did not want me dragging that [cello] everywhere. I had to convince her that this is what I wanted to do, that this was my passion.”
And then the story gets even better. Maxwell had no idea he was even nominated for the Carnegie Hall show. The application was secretly submitted by Sally O’Neill, his eighth grade orchestra teacher at New West Charter School.
He eventually beat out 10,000 other teens from around the world to earn the coveted spot.
In another unexpected plot twist, Maxwell wasn’t just in the orchestra — he was chosen to perform a trio of featured solos.
The pieces included passages in Vivaldi and Élégie from Beauty and the Beast.
“I was nervous, a little bit,” he admits, “but I think once I started playing, it all just kind of faded away. The conductor had me stand up and bow and hearing everyone clap just felt like a really well-rounded moment in this experience. It was amazing.”
But wait…there’s more. Maxwell’s cello has its own headline.
Back in 2022, the family agreed to upgrade from his school supplied instrument and reached out to the Santa Monica Music Center. They were connected with an older woman who could no longer play her cello due to arthritis. She agreed to sell the hand-me-down for just under $2600.
It turns out the instrument was handcrafted in Germany in the 1960s, and appraised for more than $20,000. Maxwell says it has a warmer, richer tone than a typical student instrument.
“You can feel the resonance more,” he said.
The family bought the cello its own seat on the flight to New York.
“We didn’t want to risk putting it in the undercarriage,” Maxwell says, “so it flew right next to me.”
Somehow, Maxwell still finds time for the rest of his life.
He has already begun working out with the high school cross country team. (In March, Maxwell completed the Los Angeles Marathon in just three hours, 41 minutes). He also joined the staff of Clique, a digital teen magazine and works several days a week delivering food at his family’s Santa Monica restaurant, Cha Cha Chicken.
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Despite his Carnegie Hall adventure, Maxwell won’t be applying to Juilliard. Instead, he wants to explore a different creative career.
“I definitely want to keep music in my life,” he says. “But I want to go into architecture.”
Perhaps one day, he will combine both passions and design L.A.’s next great concert hall.
