Long Beach High School students Ryan Allen, Alejandro Celis, Keyi Chen, Michael Ducorsky, Samantha Feingold and Stephania Robinson have been selected to perform at the 87th NYSSMA All-State Winter Conference being held in Rochester, New York on Nov. 30- Dec. 23.
Allen was selected as an alternate for Tenor Saxophone, Celis was selected to Symphony Orchestra for trumpet, Chen was selected to Symphony Orchestra for violin, Ducorsky was selected to Symphonic Band for clarinet, Feingold was selected to Symphonic Band for tenor saxophone and Robinson was selected to Mixed Chorus for alto voice.
The New York State Music Association (NYSSMA) All-State process is open to students in tenth and eleventh grades. Students spend countless hours preparing a NYSSMA Level 6 solo which must be selected from repertoire lists in the current NYSSMA manual. This solo is then presented for adjudication at specific NYSSMA solo festivals around the state. Any student receiving a ranking of 98-100 is automatically recommended for All-State consideration.
Long Beach High School music teachers fill out applications/recommendation forms for the students, and send it onto the All-State Committee, which is made up of representatives from the 15 regional zones across the state. Long Island has two zones, one for Nassau, and one for Suffolk.
The committee reviews the applications and begins to select the students who will make up the five performing ensembles which include Mixed Chorus, Instrumental Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Symphonic Band, and Symphony Orchestra. In addition to those students assigned to an ensemble, alternates are selected for each part/instrument in the event a student is unable to perform.
Last spring over 6,500 high school sophomores and juniors completed the All-State audition process, and around 600 were selected to participate across the ensembles. The five groups are directed by renowned guest conductors and perform in one of three concerts in the Eastman (Rochester) Theater and Innovations Theater during the annual NYSSMA Winter Conference in late November or early December each year. Rehearsals take place in Rochester from Thursday through the Sunday concert during the conference.
“We are so proud of our wonderfully talented Long Beach High School students who were selected to participate in All-State,” said Julia Lang-Shapiro, Long Beach Director of Media, Visual & Performing Arts. “This is another record-setting year for the Long Beach High School Music Department with six students selected for participation, or as alternates!”
Date Added: 9/19/2023