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FAIRMONT - Seventeen Fairmont Area High School orchestra students have embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity over the next several days.

The group left Tuesday on what has been dubbed a cultural holiday - three days of intensive artistic exploration in the heart of Minneapolis.

Students will see "Mama Mia" at the State Theatre, "La Boheme" at the Ordway, "Vivali and Piazzolla" from the Minnesota Orchestra, and "Footloose" at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. They will be touring Orchestra Hall, having a question-and-answer session with the Minnesota Orchestra and the actors of Mama Mia, visiting the Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Mall of America, and Hard Rock Cafe.

The students will stay at the Hilton downtown and are expected to arrive back in Fairmont around 3 a.m. Friday.

Orchestra director Judy Berkeland said the students are set to experience the "big city" and she made sure they participated in the planning.

"What is really cool is the kids have planned every step of they way," she said. "Every section was in charge of the performance."

The field trip is using a school bus to get to the Twin Cities, but after that the students are on their own, responsible for using public transit, finding walking routes, and timing how long it takes to get to various locations.

In addition, students have been having pre-trip training on the different artistic styles they will be seeing, and will have post-training when they return to talk about what they learned. They are journaling the entire process of the trip.

Berkeland said the a trip of this kind is a first for the orchestra, and one she hopes will give students an idea of what Minnesota has to offer them as artists.

"I wanted them to get a full feel of what Minnesota has to offer at that high level," she said.

Students were only asked to pay $150 for the entire trip, with the remainder coming from a grant from the Prairie Lakes Regional Art Council.

Berkeland said she intentionally included artistic expression other than orchestra music to give the students a wider view of their options.

"Art is art," she said, "whether it is musical, theatre, strings - once they see the broader level they will want to be involved."