By Barbara Heninger

Corrina Peng/special to the Town Crier Mountain View High School students (from left) Evan Jeng, Juhye Lee, Theodore Peng and Emily Hung perform on a cruise ship near Canada in May.

The Mountain View High School String Orchestra took to the high seas, as 50 students performed in a shipboard concert during a cruise to Victoria, British Columbia, from San Francisco May 10-13.

“It was too much fun,” said violin player Kevin Nee, “but too much of a good thing can be a great thing.”

Students and parent volunteers, led by music director Adam Beck, sailed aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sun. Two string quartets gave chamber performances, and the entire group performed in the ship’s concert hall, cheered on by more than 100 passengers.

“It was a wonderful experience for the kids,” said Beck, who was inspired to arrange the trip based on his own experiences playing string bass on Norwegian Cruise Line ships while working his way through college.

Besides performing, students enjoyed the restaurants, shops, pools, Jacuzzis and other amenities onboard ship, as well as visiting Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia.

“Adam’s hard work really paid off in our performance and we had a great time,” said cellist Teddy Peng.

Students and their parents paid their own way for the trip, with a few students subsidized by the Carol Fischer Scholarship Fund, established in memory of the late Carol Fischer, who was an enthusiastic supporter of the Mountain View High School music department.