Schools

Long Beach Students Earn All-County Music Honors

Others selected to Long Island String Festival Association concerts.

Story and Photos by Rosemary Leonetti.

A total of 53 Long Beach students in grades 5-12 qualified to perform in the New York State School Music Association All-County Festival from Jan. 13-20. They joined a select group of musicians from all over Nassau County for a gala concert series at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts featuring select band, chorus, orchestra, vocal jazz and jazz band performances. Hundreds of students auditioned for this honor at the NYSSMA Solo Evaluation Festivals held last spring.

There were 20 Long Beach High School students, 18 Long Beach Middle School students and 15 elementary students from around the district who participated in a variety of performances at the festival over the course of two weekends. For a complete list of the All-County participants, visit the Long Beach School District's website.

An additional eight string musicians were selected to take part in Long Island String Festival Association concerts. They were recognized by LISFA as representing the highest quality string musicians at their grade levels. Superstorm Sandy forced the cancellation of the secondary concerts in November, but the elementary concerts should go on as scheduled on Feb. 10. Those chosen for the secondary concerts were Dana Berman, Alexandra Gruber and Jonathan Kapilian. Elementary concert participants were Jack Cruse-Mulhall, Claire Ezratty, Sydney Hoffman, Jack Libasci and Ally McHale.

The Long Beach City School District was recognized as a 2011 and 2012 Best Community for Music Education by the NAMM Foundation, which acknowledges schools and districts across the U.S. for their commitment to and support for music education in schools.


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