2017 Governor’s Awards, Joseph Jacobs

2017 Governor’s Awards

Joseph Jacobs NJMEA Past-President Ventnor Middle School jjacobs@veccnj.org

The 2017 Governor’s Awards in Arts Education Ceremony was a day of celebration and recognition of the artistic talent, dedication, and commitment of New Jersey’s students, teachers, and leaders. This event took place on May 24th at the Patriot’s Theatre in the Trenton War Memorial Building. The Governor’s Awards began in 1980 and is a collaboration of the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership, the Department of Education, Art Pride New Jersey, the Department of State and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts.

This year three of our students were offered the opportunity to perform at the ceremony. Virginia Lafean (Ridge HS) opened the event with a beautiful acapella performance of the National Anthem. Blaze Dalio (Sparta HS), who was accompanied by his father Marc Dalio, performed “Corner of the Sky.” His musical interpretation of this Broadway classic was amazing. Alexandra Tasev (Rutherford HS) mesmerized the audience with her outstanding rendition of “Mercy on Me”. Alexandra was accompanied by her choir teacher and NJMEA member Patricia Blanchard. All three students did a remarkable job in representing our organization.

The New Jersey Music Educators Association’s involvement in the Governor’s Awards in Arts Education has created an opportunity to recognize the musical achievement of our accomplished students. Every year thousands of NJ music students audition to be accepted into one of our prestigious ensembles. This includes All-State Band, All-State Chorus, AllState Orchestra, All-State Opera, and All-State Jazz. Students who are members of our All-State Ensembles have the opportunity to be selected to receive a Governor’s Award. Only 10 students are nominated from the many eligible All-State participants. These students display outstanding musicianship and dedication in the study of music.

Congratulations to the following students on their success and achievement in music.

Jamie Lim – Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood – All-State

Orchestra

Kathryn Song – Montgomery High School, Skillman – All-State

Orchestra

Theresa Carlomagno – Northern Valley Regional High School,

Old Tappan – All-State Opera Alexandra Tasev – Rutherford High School, Rutherford – All-

State Chorus Blaze Dalio – Sparta High School, Sparta – All-State Chorus Virginia Lafean – Ridge High School, Basking Ridge – All-State

Chorus Tyler Seto – John P. Stevens High School, Edison – All-State

Chorus Kristen Park – Kinnelon High School, Kinnelon – All-State Band Michael Wang – John. P. Stevens High School, Edison – All-State

Band David Mosko – Cherokee High School, Marlton – All-State Jazz

Virginia Lafean, Ridge HigSchool

Blaze Dalio, Sparta High School

Alexandra Tasev, Rutherford High School