[ Mid-tempo music plays ] ♪♪ [ Indistinct conversations, violin strings plucking ] [ Violin playing ] -Instruments up!

Instruments up!

Make sure you have enough height on your stand.

Here we go, babies.

Feet flat on the floor!

I know.

I'm torturing you today.

Like every Tuesday and Thursday, right?

A, and... [ Scale playing ] Stop!

[ Music stops ] Stop.

Is that good?

We were like, "Blah!

Blah-blah!

Blah-blah-blah!"

-Miss Juanita is... -Count in your head.

Ready?

-...strict... -...tough... -And sometimes she screams.

Ah, ah, ah!

Ah-ah-ah-ah!

Good, but you can do it better.

-♪ E, E, E, E... ♪ -♪ E, E, E, E... ♪ -She speaks loud because she love us.

-♪ E, E ♪ -♪ E, E ♪ -And she says to be brave and not be scared.

When I play the cello, I feel free to play whatever I want.

[ Down-tempo music plays ] I feel like I can do this.

I can be good.

♪♪ And I can be one with the music.

♪♪ [ Vehicles passing ] -What do you want me to write?

-"Buford Highway Children Orchestra."

-Molto bene!

-Molto bene.

Ya hablaste con tu sobrina, lo que dice.

-That's what we're planning.

-Yeah.

So how many kids total do you have?

-There's 48, but today I'm only taking 19.

They were, like, really freaking out yesterday.

My wrath came out.

Two is an excellent.

I have never gotten an excellent.

I've always gotten superior.

And I told him -- I said, "I have never gotten an excellent!"

So they were, like, freaking out.

-So don't retire any time soon.

-Uh, what's that?

[ Laughs ] [ Laughter ] I don't know.

[ Machine whirring ] I want my girls to look nice.

They hate the skirts, but they know they look nice.

[ Phone ringing ] This phone doesn't stop.

Hola, Viviana.

¿Cómo estás?

[ Indistinct conversations ] And... [ Scale playing ] Stop.

That is not how you play.

[ Music stops ] I want sound.

I want sound.

You've got this.

[ Up-tempo music playing ] ♪♪ [ Music ends ] [ Indistinct conversations ] -One...one...one!

-Shh!

-One, two, three!

[ Indistinct conversations ] -My dream was always to have a Latino orchestra.

Always.

[ Down-tempo music plays ] This is like Pandora's box.

Oh, my God.

Look at that.

There's my mom with the Cuban flag.

I remember my parents struggling just to make ends meet.

♪♪ My parents came to the United States at 38 with the Freedom Flights with three children and basically a suitcase for each of us.

So painful to leave your own country unwillingly and do whatever was needed to survive.

♪♪ That's my first violin that my mom bought me when I was in high school.

Um, she went to a pawn shop and bought it for $75.

It was a lot of money for her at the time.

It's cracked, but, you know... I thought it reminds me of the sacrifice my mom made.

When I see my kids... I see me.

And I see -- In the parents, I see my parents.

♪♪ [ Birds chirping ] -[ Laughs ] Goal.

-How many you got?

-Three.

-When's your graduation?

-The 23rd.

-The day after the last day of school?

-Mm-hmm.

-Do you want it?

-No.

Finish it.

-Later today, you're gonna be hungry.

You're gonna be like, "I want food!"

-No, I won't.

-Yeah, you will.

-Yeah, you will.

-My name is Fernando, and I play the violin.

First chair.

[ Scale playing ] I got into orchestra 'cause my mom.

♪♪ Back then, I was not interested in orchestra at all.

[ Indistinct conversations ] But just playing together as a team, it gives you a feeling that you want to, like, keep on feeling.

-[ Laughing ] [ Down-tempo music plays ] ♪♪ -They just passed a bill in Georgia -- HB 1105.

[ Turn signal clicking ] And unfortunately, most of our parents are... [ Sighs ] ...are undocumented.

So they're probably going to profile, you know, stop them.

Twenty-eight years, twenty-six years, their lifetime here, and, uh... paying taxes... ...being great citizens and parents.

So we started talking about, you know, having a contingency plan, 'cause all the kids are born here.

And I told my husband that I will sell all my furniture and I will just put bunk beds all over my house... ...if the kids have to stay.

And I truly say that.

♪♪ But today is gonna be a great day.

[ Indistinct conversations ] ♪♪ [ Down-tempo music playing ] ♪♪ Yeah.

So -- Stop.

[ Music stops ] We are going to breathe and move.

Breathe.

Up.

Ready?

Move.

[ Music continues ] Now move.

Breathe!

[ Music continues ] Ah.

Shh, shh, shh, shh.

Shh.

♪♪ Look, esto es "mitten" porque tiene esto cerrado.

-What does it sound like?

-"Guh."

-"Guh."

-Guh.

Guh.

Guh.

Guh.

[ Music continues ] -Little bit.

Not too much.

Not too much.

And breathe!

-The little girl, she like playing guitar.

-"The little girl likes to play guitar."

Very nice.

-"Learn."

¿Qué es "learn"?

"Aprender."

[ Indistinct conversations, Alzaga shouting indistinctly ] [ Music builds, continues ] ♪♪ Now less!

[ Music slows, continues ] Now eyes on me.

Eyes on me.

♪♪ That's what it takes.

[ Music stops ] [ Indistinct conversations ] [ Laughter ] [ Applause ] -Kayla.

[ Applause ] -Knowing a string instrument, it's something that might take you somewhere someday.

My name is Kayla.

I'm in sixth grade, and I play the violin.

[ Down-tempo music plays ] I want to go to Harvard Law School, and I really want to graduate with high honors.

Playing the violin has taken a lot of stress from my back.

[ Violin playing ] My parents, they risked everything to come here.

Even though it's only school or achievements or extracurriculars, I try to work as hard as they did so I can succeed and one day pay them back.

♪♪ I'm an only child.

[ Indistinct conversations, laughter ] So if they get deported or something happens to them, they're like, "Who's she gonna be with?"

[ Down-tempo music plays ] She's staying here so I have a better life.

But inside her heart, deep down, I know she has a desire to go back to México.

♪♪ [ Applause ] There are some people that leave their house being so confident they're gonna go back home and see their family once again.

They never return.

♪♪ If something happens to my mom, you know, they take her away and stuff... ...what would happen to our family?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -I believe in me... -I believe in me... -...because I am the best... -...because I am the best... -...because I am impacting all the children in the world... -...because I am impacting all the children in the world... -...because we are it... -...because we are it... -What else?

-Uh... -Tell me something!

-We're the best.

-We're the best!

-We're the best.

-We're the best.

-Yes!

-Yay!

[ Laughter ] -We ate.

-Now, don't get cocky.

-Seriously, though.

-¡Bien!

-¡Bien!

[ Cheers and applause ] [ Mid-tempo music playing ] ♪♪ [ Applause continues ] [ Down-tempo music playing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Music slows, ends ] [ Down-tempo music plays ] -Supposed to be nine feet, four inches.

It is.

It's Sentinel Beach.

So... It takes a lot of physical toll.

[ Indistinct conversation ] My family, they're always terrified of me getting sick.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis.

It's a muscular-nerve disease.

In 2014, I had a crisis.

I was intubated.

Last year, I had my breast-cancer bout.

[ Birds chirping ] How long I'm gonna do this... ...I just don't think about that.

[ Indistinct conversations ] -Good evening.

My name is Fernando, and I am a graduating eighth-grade student.

We want to welcome you to our third annual spring concert.

Thank you for being here and supporting us in our musical journey.

-♪ Mm!

Mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm, mm-mm ♪ Wheelchairs.

Wheelchairs.

Go.

[ Whispering indistinctly ] -Hey.

I didn't know you talk.

[ Applause ] [ Down-tempo introduction plays ] [ Music stops ] [ Whispering ] Move this way.

Move.

It happens.

[ Laughter ] Don't rush.

I'm very tough.

And yes, I know that I'm tough.

One, two... Because I want to pull the best out of them.

[ Down-tempo introduction playing ] And if you ask any immigrant... [ Music builds, continues ] ...they always have to work harder... ...to be seen.

♪♪ And I think these kids, even though they're here, born in the United States, they're gonna have to work harder.

[ Cheers and applause ] -Bravo!

-Bravo!

-Bravo!

-Bravo!

[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Down-tempo music plays ] -But the community... ♪♪ ...the self-esteem... ♪♪ ...the expression of your soul.

♪♪ ...the gift of music is forever.

-One, two, three!

Over here!

♪♪ -Music is not just playing notes.

It's, like, something that you can feel, like you have that power inside of you that you can show everybody your talent.

♪♪ How would I explain it?

It's basically playing out loud... ♪♪ ...to, like, a crowd... ♪♪ ...inspiring other people who want to join the orchestra.

♪♪ [ Off-key note plays, music stops ] Or who knows?

They might become a musician in the future, like us.

-I did it right.

-You did it.

-[ Laughs ] [ Down-tempo music plays ] Want to do it one more time?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪