The Simsbury High Music Department is proud to announce it will be sending ten students to the Connecticut Music Educators’ Association (CMEA) annual All-State Festival. CMEA hosts four regional festivals (Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western) and one All-State festival each year.
Regional auditions are open to all Connecticut high school students who participate in jazz band, chorus, band or orchestra. Each auditioning student must practice and perform a pre-selected solo piece as well as sight-reading exercises and two scales. Students receive scores from several adjudicators, and an overall cut-off score is then determined. Those who are at or above the cut-off score are selected for participation in one of four regional festivals. Thirty SHS students were selected for the 2014 Northern Regional Music Festival.
Students who make Regionals are then eligible to audition for the All-State Festival; this is a more demanding audition that requires additional preparation. The purpose of the New Haven-based auditions is to select Connecticut’s top high school musicians. Cut-off score for band, jazz band, chorus and orchestra are determined – typically significantly higher than the Regional cut-off – and the best music students from around the state are selected. These students spend three days at the Crowne Plaza in Cromwell learning advanced repertoire under the direction of renowned conductors from around the United States.
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The following Simsbury High students were selected for the 2014 Connecticut All-State Music Festival: Chorus: Seniors Sam Kyzivat (4th All-State Festival), Kelly McAlpine (3) and Jack Sullivan (1); Sophomores Kate Campolieta (2), Gabriel Garcia (2) and Madeleine Gastonguay (1); Freshman William Shaw (1). Jazz Band: Seniors Timothy Rechen (2) and Matthew Shaw (1). Orchestra: Senior Jacqueline Meyer (3). These students are taught and mentored by the outstanding music staff at Simsbury High School: Lisa Abel (band), Ken Fischer (Jazz Band), Ryan Ford (Orchestra) and Colleen Thompson (Chorus).
The Connecticut All-State Festival concert will be held at The Bushnell in Hartford on April 5, 2014 at 3 p.m. The festival is a wonderful opportunity to hear Connecticut’s most talented high school musicians and is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased the day of the concert at the door or through the CMEA website: http://www.cmea.org/node/29
