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
WAUNAKEE, Wis. (June 9, 2015) – Some of Wisconsin’s finest young musicians are about to meet up for what could be the most rewarding musical experience of their lifetime – Wisconsin School Music Association’s (WSMA) 2015 High School State Honors Music Project.
The High School State Honors Music Project is designed to provide musically talented students with the opportunity to rehearse and perform with the nation’s finest conductors in a professional and highly disciplined setting. Students are challenged to perform at their musical best throughout the rehearsal period, which culminates with an inspired performance, celebrating the reach of music education statewide.
“The difference between the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project and other programs like it is this: Students come to camp having not seen the music. They learn it with the help of section coaches and the guidance of a conductor. After camp is over the students then return home and continue to put the finishing touches on the music working from the foundation of camp. As a result, the concert is more than talented students playing together in an ensemble — it’s a musical experience that can never be recreated in any other way,” said Tim Wurgler, WSMA program director. “It is this synergy of effort that is the purpose and experience of the WSMA High School State Honors Project,” he said.
Auditions were held in seven sites across the state this past February. Of the more than 1,600 auditions, 427 students in grades 9, 10 and 11 were invited to be part of the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project ensembles.
Students selected to participate in the WSMA High School State Honors Music Project will meet for the first time at an intensive four-day summer camp at UW-Green Bay. The WSMA High School Honors Summer Camp is a unique and essential component to the High School Honors Project experience as it is the first opportunity the selected students have to see their music, meet the conductor and rehearse as a newly formed ensemble. Camp dates are as follows: June 20-23, Band and Mixed Choir; June 24-27, Orchestra, Treble Choir and Jazz Ensemble. 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.
| Band | Scott Wright, associate professor of clarinet, University of Kentucky |
| Orchestra | Demondrae Thurman, director of orchestral studies, University of Alabama |
| Jazz Ensemble | Robert Washut, professor of music, University of Northern Iowa |
| Mixed Choir | Bruce Gladstone, associate director of choral studies, UW-Madison |
| Treble Choir | Hilary Apfelstadt, professor and director of choral studies, University of Toronto |
For more information about WSMA or its programs, go to www.wsmamusic.org
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