High Notes for Belmont High Musicians at District Auditions

This past Saturday, Nov. 23, 147 Belmont High School students auditioned for the Massachusetts Music Educators Northeastern District Senior Festival Band, Chorus, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble, each working months to prepare a challenging solo piece to present for adjudication on audition day. 

Of the Belmont High students who auditioned for the MMEA Northeastern Senior District Festival:

• Fifty-seven were accepted to perform in the Senior District Band, Chorus, Orchestra or Jazz Ensemble. Belmont High students comprise 13 percent – better than one in eight – of all students accepted to the festival.

• Thirty students received All-State recommendations, qualifying them to audition in January for the MMEA All-State Festival.

• Three Belmont High students received the highest score in the district on their instrument: Ben Covell, violin; Andrew Eurdolian, oboe and Leah Meyer, French horn.

Being selected to a Senior District ensemble is one of the highest honors a high school musician can earn, said Arto Asadoorian, director of Fine & Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools. 

"Each and every student who put the time and effort into auditioning deserves to be praised for the work that went into their preparation. Auditioning is the hardest part of life as a musician, and these students should be commended for rising to such a substantial challenge," said Asadoorian.

"The number of student-musicians in Belmont performing at such an advanced level is a testament to their hard work and the support of their parents.  It is an indicator that the teachers in the Belmont K-12 Music Department are among the best music educators in the state," he noted.  

"It is a result of the commitment in our community to treat music education as a vital component of our K-12 core academic curriculum," said Asadoorian.

The Senior District Festival will take place at Lowell High School with rehearsals after school on Jan. 8 and Jan. 10, and the concert on Saturday, Jan. 11. The following students were selected to perform (*indicates All-State Recommendation):

Grant Addis, percussion

Kyra Armstrong, French horn

Yilei Bai, alto saxophone

Sami Belkadi, trumpet*

Erin Cantor, viola

Eleanor Carlile, French horn*

Lucas Cmok-Kehoe, chorus (bass)

Josephine Cooper, clarinet

Ben Covell, violin*

Liam Cushman, chorus (tenor)*

Max Davidowitz, percussion*

Jack Decoulos, violin

Emilia DeLeo, viola*

Chole Derba, clarinet

David Dignan, chorus (bass)

Anupama Dinesh, bassoon*

Andrew Eurdolian, oboe*

Riley Grant, trumpet

David Green, chorus (tenor)*

Kiara Holm, clarinet

Haig Hovsepian, alto saxophone

Gaspar Jaen-Maisonet, chorus (tenor)*

Ryan Keeth, percussion

Helena Kim, euphonium*

Sophie Klimasmith, French horn

David Korn, chorus (bass)

Sam Korn, chorus (bass)*

Eunice Lee, flute*

Elizabeth Levy, tuba

Reed Logan, trombone*

Anna Makar-Limanov, chorus (alto)*

Nicky Marcus-Bauer, chorus (tenor)*

Hannah Messenger, French horn*

Leah Meyer, French horn*

Zoe Miner, chorus (alto)*

Devin Morris, euphonium

Sigi Nielsen, chorus (soprano)*

Nicholas Osborn, French horn*

Tyler Papciak, chorus (bass)*

Andrew Park, clarinet*

Yeonjae Park, cello

Hannah Pierce-Hoffman, chorus (alto)

Hannah Read, flute

Julia Regier, chorus (soprano)*

Nick Scenna, chorus (bass)

Ned Searls, trumpet

Jack Stone, trombone*

Alex Sun, trumpet*

Dongmin Sung, cello

Andy Thompson, clarinet*

Raphael Wagner, trombone

Jasper Wolf, jazz trumpet*

Rowan Wolf, jazz tenor saxophone*

Mary Yeh, string bass*

Thomas Zembowicz, chorus (bass)

Anya Zhang, flute

Michael Zhou, clarinet