Students Selected for High School State Honors Music Project
NOTE TO EDITORS:
To identify students selected for the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project in your circulation area, please refer to the student roster (pdf). Schools and cities are listed in zip code order for easy reference.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Phone: 608-850-3566
Web: www.wsmamusic.org
WAUNAKEE, Wis. (June 3, 2008) – Some of Wisconsin’s finest young musicians are about to join together for what could be the most fulfilling musical experience of their lifetime – the Wisconsin School Music Association's (WSMA) 2008 High School State Honors Music Project is gearing up for another year of music and education.
"The High School Honors Project is a collaboration of teachers’ and students’ hard work and talent. The best student musicians and music teachers from around the state join one another in order to be challenged to work harder than ever before by nationally recognized conductors. The result of this synthesis is an unequaled educational experience and a moving musical performance,” said Tim Wurgler, WSMA program director.
More than 1,600 students in grades 9, 10 and 11 auditioned for 421 positions in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project ensembles. The auditions were held in seven sites across the state this past February.
The students selected to participate in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project will meet for the first time at a summer camp at UW-Green Bay. The High School Honors Orchestra, Treble Choir, and Jazz Ensemble will meet from June 14 – 17, and the High School Band and Mixed Choir will meet from June 18 – 21. All Honors students reconvene in Madison in late October to perform at the annual Wisconsin State Music Conference. The Honors concerts celebrate the remarkable achievements of Wisconsin’s finest young musicians and are open to the public.
The 2008 WSMA High School State Honors Project conductors are:
| Band | Virginia Allen, conductor at The Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, and The Julliard School, New York, New York |
| Mixed Choir | Paul Head, Director of Choral Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware |
| Jazz Ensemble | Mathew Buchman, Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies, UW-Stevens Point, Wisconsin |
| Orchestra | Jean Montes, Director of Orchestras, Loyola University, New Orleans, Louisiana |
| Treble Choir | Beth Holmes, Director of Millikin University Children and Youth Choir Program, Millikin University, Decatur, Illinois |
For more information about WSMA, go to www.wsmamusic.org.
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Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) is a service organization with more than 1,000 member public and private schools. Each year, more than 220,000 students take the initiative to become involved in WSMA activities, including District and State Music Festivals, State Honors Projects, State Marching Band Championships and Concert Festivals. WSMA, also owner and operator of the Wisconsin Center for Music Education, is governed by a board of directors made up of superintendents, principals and other officers from all over the state. WSMA believes music is a basic human need and that all children have the right to experience all that music offers them.