NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Four upperclassmen at New Rochelle High School have been selected to take part in 2016 New York State School Music Association All-State Ensemble to be held in Rochester in early December.
Annael Alvarez, a junior and a member of the NRHS Chorale, will participate in the women’s chorus, and David Rubertone, a junior and part of the NRHS Chorale, will take part in the mixed chorus. Emerick Falta, a tuba player, and Lily Grantcharova, both seniors, will serve as alternates.
NRHS students are typically picked every year to showcase their talents in the very competitive NYSSMA All-State Ensemble, but the number of students selected this year is high, said Marc Schneider, supervisor of music and art at the City School District of New Rochelle.
“We are thrilled for our All-State performers and their teachers,” said Schneider. “We are appreciative of all the hard work New Rochelle teachers have done to nurture them to this high level of performance. We are talking top of the top.”
Every spring, several thousand students across the state learn and prepare a challenging piece of music, which they perform before a panel of judges who give them a rating. Only those who reach the highest level – between 98 and 100 out of a total score of 100 – are invited to the All-State Ensemble. Pop singer Lady Gaga participated in the 2002 All-State jazz ensemble.
Schneider will travel with the students to Rochester when they perform at the gathering Dec. 1 to Dec. 4. About 900 students from across the state are expected to participate.