by Rebecca Shwartz
Thirteen students auditioned for the Central Massachusetts District Senior Musical Festival on November 19, and five students were accepted. Seniors Thaya Zalewski and Jack Snow, juniors Garet Mildish and Jacob Doherty Munro, and sophomore Sean Morton have been accepted into Districts, with Snow, Zalewski, and Doherty Munro invited to audition for the All-State Festival.
Students will perform in a concert on January 14 at Mechanics Hall in Worcester.
Around 1400 students audition for the Central MA District Festival each year in 4 separate categories of voice, band, orchestra, and jazz. Only 140 students are selected for voice, 110 for band, 100 for orchestra, and 19 for jazz, according to Caron, who is a member of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association.
The music festival, run by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA), has taken place for the past sixty years, and auditioners consider it an honor to be accepted into the festival.
“I’m surprised, excited, and I’ve never been in something this exclusive before,” Mildish said. “I’m proud of that.”
Zalewski, on the other hand, has auditioned for the past four years, has been in the festival three times, and was recommended for All-State last year.
However, during the past summer, Zalewski developed a vocal node from playing the clarinet and speaking too much. Not practicing for two weeks to recover after having surgery to remove the vocal node “was the longest and weirdest two weeks,” Zalewski said. She was able to recover and practice for two months, just in time for the audition.
Band director Jason Caron, who has helped students to prepare for the festival for years, says, “It really is an honor to play in this festival. You get to experience a full concert band that has every instrument, the right amount of instruments, and experience the music from a band repertoire,” Caron said. “You get to experience advanced music played by skilled students, and it can be life changing for the student.”
