Congratulations to Ryan Fogler, who was selected as an alternate for the All-State Mixed Choir, and Penelope Sierra, who will perform in the soprano section of the All State Jazz Choir at the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) 2019 All-State Winter Festival, to be held Dec. 5 to 8 in Rochester.

The festival features students who are the “best of the best” in New York State. They will practice with student colleagues from throughout the state, culminating with performances at the University of Rochester Eastman School of Music’s Eastman Theatre.

Being selected for All-State is one of the highest student achievements in music education.

The All-State experience begins with a music educator, his or her student and an accompanist spending countless hours preparing a NYSSMA Level VI solo which must be selected from repertoire lists in the NYSSMA manual. Last spring, over 6,500 New York State sophomores and juniors prepared for All-State evaluations in the hope of being selected, according to NYSSMA.  Adjudicators take those evaluations and follow a detailed process to determine the final make-up of eight performing ensembles.

The jazz choir and string orchestra will perform Saturday, Dec. 7; the mixed choir will perform Sunday, Dec. 8.