By Emily Gray ‘24
On Saturday, January 7th, a few students participated in the Northeastern Senior District Festival. The instrumentalists who participated were Jabin Lee ‘24, Callum Daly ‘24, Eunjeh Sung ‘24, and Elisha Choi ‘26. The vocalists were Emily Gray ‘24, Kate Hurley ‘24, and Joas Walter ‘25.
In preparation for the festival, there were two five hour rehearsals on the Wednesday and Friday before. The musical pieces were very difficult, and the performers were not given much time to prepare, but they pulled together and put on a great performance. The rehearsals were held in a practice hall at the New England Conservatory, and the concert was at Jordan Hall which is a National Historic Landmark and renown performance hub. Also, the vocalists were conducted by Dr. Charlene Archibeque who is the first woman to earn her doctorate in vocal conducting. Overall, it was an amazing experience, and everyone learned so much and got to work with wonderful, talented people.
In addition to the district festival, Jabin Lee and Emily Gray attended All-Sstate auditions (Jabin for clarinet and Emily for vocals). The auditions were held on Saturday January 21st at Shrewsbury High. Similar to district auditions, auditioners had to perform a solo piece, do some scales, and do a little bit of sight reading, but the material was more difficult this time.
Both Jabin Lee and Emily Gray were accepted into All-State. They went to an all day rehearsal on March 3rd in preparation for the festival at the Boston Symphony Orchestra on March 4th. Unfortunately, the festival was postponed due to weather concerns. The festival does not have a new date yet.