WVHS musicians participate in select NYSSMA festivals

CONGRATULATIONS to Warwick Valley High School musicians accepted into the New York State School Music Association Area All-State and All-State performances this fall.

WVHS Treble Choir Area All-State performers

Area All-State

• Treble Choir: Alyssa Folkertsma (soprano 2), Eleanor Glover (soprano 1), Margaret Lee (soprano 1), Madeleine Wadeson (soprano 1)
• Mixed Choir: Daniel Brenner (bass 2), Viktor Galitzine (tenor 1), Haiden Masefield (soprano 2), Grace McGowan (alto 1), William Theodore Odell (tenor 1), Charles Phelan (bass 2), Ethan Tuomala (tenor 2)
  
  

  WVHS Mixed Choir Area All-State performers

• Orchestra: Paul Gagliano (violin), Melanie Gaynor (viola), Rachel Goldbaum (flute), Izabele Horowitz (violin), Abby Housberg (French horn), Dara Jonkoski (violin)
• Band: Granger Ottley (percussion)

All-State

• Vocal Jazz Ensemble: Ethan Tuomala (tenor)
• Mixed Chorus: Senior Daniel Brenner, bass 1)
  
  

  WVHS Orchestra Area All-State performers

• String Orchestra: Izabele Horowitz (violin 2)
• Alternate: Rachel Goldbaum (flute)

The 2018 All-State Solo Festival

Performing with an All-State ensemble is the highest state honor for student musicians. This year, close to 6,500 students auditioned at the NYSSMA All-State Solo Festival and 889 were accepted into an ensemble. For strings, 1,061 auditioned, 185 were accepted; for vocal jazz, 136 auditioned, 24 were accepted; for voice, 3,371 auditioned, 408 were accepted. Selected singers and musicians from across New York State rehearsed together from Nov. 29 – Dec. 2. Hours of daily rehearsals culminated in a concert for each ensemble at the Eastman Theatre Kodak Hall in Rochester.

WVHS All-State ensemble performers

More about NYSSMA Area All-State and All-State competitions and festivals

Area All-State participants are selected from their Spring NYSSMA Solo Festival evaluations and represent the best high school musicians from the five-county area of Rockland, Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Greene counties. They rehearse together over the course of two days with a guest conductor and perform in a culminating concert on a Saturday evening in mid-November.

All-State performance ensembles are made up of seniors and juniors selected from the spring NYSSMA All-State solo evaluations and represent the best from across New York. They rehearse in Rochester, then perform in concert in the city’s Eastman Theatre Kodak Hall in early December.

Performing with an All-State ensemble is the highest state honor for student musicians.