Ossining's Musical High Achievers

Ossining middle and high school music students are being recognized for the achievements in music. Eight students are going to be taking part in the Intermediate All-County Band and Orchestra.

The eight students are from both the high school and middle school. They were given the honor of participating in the Intermediate All-County Band and Orchestra because of their stellar performances at the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Solo Festival last spring. While taking part in the festival, the eight students were singled out as some of the best musicians in Westchester.

“Congratulations to our student musicians and to our middle school band and orchestra teachers, Mr. Ira Jenkins and Ms. Christine Chu McGovern, who helped to prepare our students,” said Ossining Union Free School District Director of Cultural Arts Bradley Morrison.

Now that Ossining's students have been named, they will join other Westchester musicians to perform a series of concerts. The concerts will be held at the Rockefeller Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase in March.

Ossining School District's director of cultural arts says he isn't surprised by the student's achievements.

"We are so very proud of these students and their teachers for this great recognition," said Morrison. "Our music students perform at a consistently high level all year long, and it's nice to have that quality performance recognized by outside organizations."

Here is a list of Ossining's high-achieving music students who will perform with the Intermediate All-County Orchestra:

• Nathan Holzberg, Percussion
• John Kim, Cello
• Isaiah Schrader, Violin.

The following students were selected to perform with the All-County Band:

• Jesse Bernstein, Trumpet
• Eli Hersh, Euphonium
• Daniel Hickey, Flute
• Anthony Ibanez, Bassoon
• Liam Montgomery, Tuba

The school district's director of cultural arts says that this is not the first time that Ossining student have been recognized this year.

"This is actually the third recognition of high-performing music students in Ossining this year. Robert Levine (French Horn) was selected to perform in the Conference All-State Symphonic Band, and Noah Weisbart (Tenor) was chosen as an Alternate for the Conference All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble," said Morrison. "The Conference All-State performing ensembles recognize the best students from throughout the state and are the pinnacle performing ensembles of their kind in the state. Also, we had six students chosen to perform in the Area All-State Band and Orchestra, which recognizes the best students from our region of the state. Layla Yuro (Clarinet), Elizabeth Keeley (Clarinet), and Caleb Hersh (Trumpet) were invited to play with the Area All-State Band. Madeline Johl (Viola), Wendy Snyder (Viola), and Gabriel Yum (Viola) were invited to play with the Area All-State Orchestra."