Six Millburn High School student musicians will make their debut at the iconic Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN this fall, as part of a select group of the nation’s top-performing high school student musicians.
The students were chosen as members of the 2014 NAfME (National Association for Music Education) All National Honor Ensembles, according to Nancy Dries, Communications Coordinator for the Millburn Public School District. They will join more than 600 of the top student musicians in the country to perform at a gala concert on October 29 at the historic Grand Ole Opry.
The All-National Honor Ensembles consist of a concert band, symphony orchestra, mixed chorus, and jazz ensemble. The Millburn students and their ensembles are:
Louis Danowsky – Jazz Ensemble
Ambika Chetal, Olivia Estes, Arielle Kasnetz, Leonard Santos – Mixed Choir
Ellim Kim – Concert Band
The students will spend several days working with and then performing under the batons of four of the most renowned conductors in the country: Mark Camphouse, Professor of Music, Conductor, Wind Symphony, George Mason University; Gerard Schwarz, Music Director, All-Star Orchestra, Music Director, Eastern Music Festival Conductor Laureate, Seattle Symphony; Edith Copley, Regents’ Professor, Director of Choral Studies, Northern Arizona University and Robert Baca, Professor of Music, Director of Jazz Studies, University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire.
The concert band and symphony orchestra will each have approximately 150 instrumentalists, the jazz ensemble will have 20 instrumentalists, and the mixed chorus will have approximately 350 vocalists, said Dries. Eligible students have qualified for their state-level honor ensemble program and competed against top students for a spot in these national honor ensembles.
More information about the All National Honor Ensembles may be found at this website.
