Program Book Insert - MSOM February

MUSIC STUDENTS OF THE MONTH Elizabeth Broder Grade 8, Mount Olive Middle School, Budd Lake; Nominated by Melany McQueeny It gives me great pleasure to nominate Elizabeth Broder for Mayo Performing Arts Center Outstanding Wind Member. Elizabeth has been a member of the Mount Olive Middle School Music Program since September 2013. Elizabeth is currently involved in the Marching Band at Mount Olive High School. She just participated and performed in Montclair State’s University Chamber Day. She has also taken a leadership role within her section and is always willing to help members of her section with note identification and fingerings. She is not only an outstanding wind instrumentalist, but is also an outstanding member of our band and music program.

Leslie Chan Grade 8, Copeland Middle School, Rockaway; Nominated by Ardith Collins Leslie Chan is an outstanding student and violinist who has been a member of the Copeland Middle School String Ensemble for three years. Leslie is diligent and dedicated to practicing. She is a focused student and is always ready to lend a hand to anyone I need. Leslie is also an excellent student, who takes her studies very seriously. She plans to continue playing violin in the High School String Ensemble.

Leslie Chang Grade 12, Randolph High School, Randolph; Nominated by Eric Schaberg Leslie Chang successfully auditioned and made it into Sr. Region 1 Orchestra on violin competing against the best High School violinists in Northern New Jersey. Leslie is not only accomplished on violin, but is also an accomplished pianist as well. She recently performed piano with the Symphonic Orchestra in Randolph’s Winter Concert which featured several small piano solos throughout the Symphony works. She is currently Concertmaster for the upcoming String Fest Concert on February 22nd at Randolph High School. She always asks what she can do for other people and is very humble about her own accomplishments.

Maximus Cresti Grade 7, Black River Middle School, Chester; Nominated by Kenneth Piascik Percussion is a very special and challenging section of the band. The students need to be organized, motivated, disciplined, rhythmic, and they must perform many different instruments. The best percussionists have all these qualities and help lead the band to the next level. Maximus is one of these great percussionists! He arrives early in the mornings to practice the marimba, work on his rudiments, or advance in the Theory program. He is also a “mentor” in our 6th grade band program where he helps the younger students understand percussion techniques and procedures while I conduct the rehearsal. Mr. Cresti wants to be challenged and continues to inspire the other percussionists in our music program. We are all very fortunate to have Maximus Cresti at Black River Middle School!

Kyle DeCotiis Grade 12, Jefferson Township High School, Oak Ridge; Nominated by Rich Barrieres Kyle DeCotiis plays clarinet, contra bass clarinet, and flute in multiple ensembles at JTHS. He will be playing a reed book in our pit orchestra for the musical, “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and plays first clarinet in our Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble. Kyle also led our Marching Band this year as Drum Major and was a member of the All Sussex County Band and the All North Jersey Region Band. Kyle is a stand out scholar musician. He is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society and Spanish Honor Society as well as Co-President of the Class of 2016. He is also enrolled in four Advanced Placement courses here at JTHS. He is a true leader among his peers. Kyle has been chosen to participate in the New Jersey All State Band.

The 2015-2016 Music Student of the Month program is sponsored by The Provident Bank Foundation

Posey Durling Grade 7, The Peck School, Morristown; Nominated by Andrew Lyman Posey Durling is a member of our school’s instrumental ensemble. She is a dedicated musician who is the leader of our ensemble. Posey excels in many different instruments, but is most passionate about violin. She has been taking private lessons for years now, and has progressed strongly. She is extremely hard working, dedicated, and passionate about music. She comes prepared to practice, and encourages the other ensemble members to do their best during each rehearsal. Posey is a student that always brightens the room with her enthusiasm, her friendliness, her positive attitude, and strong demeanor.

Clara Gong Grade 11, Morristown High School, Morristown; Nominated by Norma Davis Clara is a junior at Morristown High School. Clara is a leader in the first violin section of the MHS Orchestra.

She is very passionate about music and she plays with feeling and energy in every rehearsal and concert. In addition to the orchestra, Clara performs on the violin with the select String Ensemble at many community and school events. She plays first violin in the Camerata chamber group at school, performs in pit orchestras and in the Delbarton Abbey Orchestra. She is truly a wonderful student who gives so much of herself in her music and to others.

John Greco Grade 8, John Hill School, Boonton; Nominated by Yvonne Manca John has been a part of the music program since 4th grade. He is now in 8th grade and plays the trombone exceptionally. He is the section leader and attends every single practice and lesson. He is great at reading rhythms and matching pitch. He has been given solos and has played them beautifully in the past. He is the heart and soul of our low brass section.

June Sirna Grade 7, Madison Junior School, Madison; Nominated by Kathleen McCormick I am choosing June because she has worked incredibly hard so far this year. She has made such improvements in her playing in just a few months and scored near perfect on one of our hardest orchestra excerpts that I gave the violins. I hope that by this nomination, it will inspire and continue to motivate her in playing.

Daniel Wang Grade 11, Parsippany High School, Parsippany; Nominated by Gregory Dalakian Daniel Wang is an outstanding flute player and a very active member of the PHS Music Department. Over the years, he has been a member of our Wind Ensemble, Concert Band, and Pit Orchestra. Daniel has accomplished a lot in his short time as a flute player, including successfully auditioning for the North Jersey Area Band, NJ Region I Band, and NJ All-State Band & Orchestra, ranking 1st Chair Flute in the entire State. Daniel played in the NJ All-State Band last February and in the NJ All-State Symphony Orchestra this past November at the NJEA Teachers’ Convention in Atlantic City and NJPAC in Newark. He was even selected to perform in the NAME AllNational Symphony Orchestra this past October in Nashville, TN (one of two flutes in the country). In addition, Daniel has performed with the New Jersey Youth Symphony (2014-2015) and Mannes Philharmonic (20152016 Season), and attends the Mannes Precollege Division, studying flute with Judith Mendenhall.

Nicholas Vitebsky Grade 8, Mountain View Middle School, Oak Ridge; Nominated by Leigh Carpenter Nick has a keen intellect and grasps the higher level music theory taught in Mountain View’s Advance Band class. He uses this in addition to his natural musicality to help him always play in the correct style of the music.

He lays down his part as a solid midrange or bass foundation for the band to play off of and build upon. Nick is currently a member of our Advanced Band, All-District Honors Band, and has played solos in concerts and other ceremonies.

Anna Zagoren Grade 12, Chatham High School, Chatham; Nominated by Krystle Graser Anna has been a valued member of the Chatham High School Orchestra Program since day one. She brings an energy and enthusiasm to orchestral music and our class that not every student is capable of doing. She has truly emerged as a strong leader of our Chamber Orchestra cello section by taking charge, staying realistically positive, and offering assistance to her peers- in turn, she is highly respected by her fellow classmates. Her dedication to music and the cello allowed her to gain entry to our Chamber Orchestra, Honors Chamber Orchestra and outside of school, the New Jersey Youth Symphony. She is a member of the Chatham Chamber Music Club and has participated in numerous Pops Orchestra events.