Schools

4 Port Chester Students Selected for State Honors Bands

High school, middle school musicians will be part of special upstate performances.

Four musicians from Port Chester Middle School and Port Chester High School have been selected to perform with the New York State Band Director’s Association Honor Bands.

William Brakewood, seventh grade trumpet, will perform with the NYSBDA Middle School Honor Concert Band.  His school music teacher is Linda McDermott.  Tenth grader Emmalie Tello, clarinet, was chosen for the NYSBDA High School Honor Concert Band, while fellow tenth grader Isabella Roca, trumpet, and eleventh grader Anthony Pellegrini, baritone saxophone, were selected for the NYSBDA Honor Jazz Ensemble.  Their school music teacher is Robert Vitti.

Middle and High School musicians from across New York State were selected for these Honor Bands based on their score at last spring’s NYSSMA (NY State School Music Association) Solo Evaluation Festival and their school teacher’s recommendation.  A committee of band directors chose students from nearly one hundred school districts.  In the case of the Jazz Ensemble, Port Chester musicians earned two of only 18 available seats.

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Students will travel to Liverpool, NY, on March 1, where they will participate in extensive rehearsals before performing at the NYSBDA 32nd Annual Symposium on March 2 or 3.  While the students rehearse, their teachers and other New York instrumental music educators will attend clinics, workshops and performances during the weekend-long event.


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