More Than Three Dozen Belmont High Musicians Earn Placement In NE Senior District Festival On Jan. 8-11

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Belmont High musicians will participate in the MMEA Northeast Senior District Festival, Jan. 8 to 11, 2025.

The Massachusetts Music Educators Association holds its annual District Auditions across the state for students to be accepted into honors Bands, Choruses, Orchestras, and Jazz Ensembles. Northeast Senior District Auditions for high school musicians were held on Saturday, Nov. 16, at North Andover High School. 

This school year, 91 students from Belmont High auditioned for at least one MMEA-Northeast District Ensemble, and 13 students auditioned for more than one. These students practiced for several weeks and months leading up to audition day, putting in hours of work on their own with their ensemble directors in school and many with private music teachers outside of school. 

This year, 43 students were accepted to perform in the MMEA Northeast Senior District Festival, which will take place from Jan. 8 to 11, 2025.

The fact that ninety-one of our high school students took the chance to audition for Senior Districts speaks to how highly our community values music and the arts as a part of our student’s lives,” said Arto Asadoorian, Director of Visual and Performing Arts at Belmont Public Schools.

“There are few communities in the state where these many students perform at a Senior District level and where these many students feel prepared and brave enough to audition in person for Honors Ensembles,” said Asadoorian. “Our music faculty is proud of every single student who auditioned for Senior Districts this year, for their time, effort, and preparation, and for representing Belmont High School’s music department in a very positive way.”

The student musicians honored to perform at the senior district festival include:

* Denotes students who have earned recommendations to audition for the MMEA All-State Festival

  • Max Abouzeid, trumpet
  • *Peter Aloisio, trumpet
  • *Parker Brookins, trumpet
  • *Sophia Bufano, trombone
  • *Noah Chin, cello
  • *Mark Chumack, trumpet
  • *Eli Coleman, bassoon
  • *Bethany Eagar, French horn
  • *Sophia Edrington Martinez, chorus
  • Sam Engler, string bass
  • Brendan Han, viola
  • Lynn Han, violin
  • *Hank Hicks, bassoon
  • Derek Huang, trumpet
  • Ethan Kim, trombone
  • Hanna Kim, flute
  • Barnabas Kwak, clarinet
  • *Caroline Lafkas, chorus
  • *Daphne Lee, violin
  • Sunho Lee, cello
  • Lauren Lin, viola
  • *Daniel Liu, violin
  • Austin Mann, chorus
  • Henry Moriarty, clarinet
  • *Stella Ovcharova, timpani
  • *Ryan Park, jazz trumpet
  • *Hailey Peck, violin
  • Andrew Quinn, cello
  • Lili Rigoulot, euphonium
  • *Fiona Rodriguez-Clark, cello
  • Luka Rozgic, string bass
  • *William Sattler, chorus
  • *Marcus Sendzik, viola
  • *Liam Sinclair, chorus
  • Sophia Sun, clarinet
  • William Sun, alto saxophone
  • *Ken Takayama, jazz tenor saxophone
  • *Rayna Thomas, chorus
  • *Qingyin Yang, clarinet
  • *Hibiki Yoshikawa, trombone
  • *Yolanda Yu, flute
  • *Evan Zhang, clarinet
  • *Emily Zhou, flute

Done! After Two Decades Of Delays, Beaver Brook Culvert Finally Replaced

By Leave a Comment

Photo: The new roadway over the Beaver Brook culvert at the Waltham/Belmont line.

After two decades of delays in deciding who would pay what part of a several million-dollar infrastructure project, a brand new tunnel carrying Beaver Brook under the main thoroughfare between Belmont and Waltham is now in operation.

The days of vehicles bouncing over steel plates as they crawled over a crumbling underground culvert, which allowed Beaver Brook to cross Trapelo Road at the border of Waltham and Belmont, have finally ended.

“The culvert? It’s finished,” said Glenn Clancy, Belmont’s long-serving Town Engineer, at a recent Select Board meeting. But don’t expect a ribbon cutting when the remaining items on the “punch list” are tidied up in the new year.

“I think everyone involved is just happy that it’s done,” said Clancy, Belmont’s contact on the project.

The more than three-decade delay in the rebuild was due to the culvert’s location: half of the infrastructure lies in Waltham, and the other half in Belmont. During this time, the two municipalities could not agree on which should pay for what.

“That’s always been a contentious thing. We knew we wanted to replace it, but the biggest issue preventing that was jurisdiction: was it Waltham? Or was it Belmont,” said Clancy.

Finally, in 2019, it was agreed that the two communities would split the project 50/50, although, in the end, Waltham performed more work and accrued additional costs, said Clancy. Belmont’s Town Meeting approved spending up to $800,000 from the town’s Sewer Enterprise Fund, accompanied by a $100,000 state earmark.

In 2022, the state legislature responded to requests for funding by appropriating $2 million to replace the culvert. In October 2022, Waltham—which took the lead on the work—requested bids and, in March 2023, granted the contract to E.T. & L. Corp.

The work began in early July 2024. It included razing the existing culvert and building the new tunnel and its wing walls. It also called for creating a new block wall on the downstream/Waltham side, constructing a moment slab and bridge railing, and constructing a flood wall on the upstream/Belmont side. Finally, minor drainage work, new sidewalk construction, paving, guardrails, and other minor work were and will be completed.

A Spotlight Now On Belmont High Wrestling As Program Grows In Numbers, Competitiveness

By Leave a Comment

Photog: Belmont High’s Josh Hartley celebrates pinning his opponent in the 165-pound bout in the season opener vs Reading Memorial High

After several decades in the dark, Belmont High wrestling is now under the spotlight.

And that’s an actual spotlight, the Wrestling Mat Light, a 500-watt LED bulb that illuminates the competition circle with 50,000 lumens, that now hangs from the ceiling of Wenner Field House. 

And there’s a good reason for the program to be seen in a new light. Under the leadership of Belmont Head Coach Craig Janjigian and his assistant Andrew McCahill, wrestling attracted an ever increasing number of athletes who dedicated themselves to the sport.

The program had not presented a complete competitive roster since the golden age of Belmont wrestling in the early 1990s when the Baghdady brothers and cousins led the program to individual and team titles. Now with 45 student-athletes on the roster, the program matches the size of some of the strongest state programs.

“I think last year was our first year with a full varsity lineup, and this year we do have another full varsity lineup, and each one of those kids have been getting better and better,” said Janjigian.

The squad’s new found popularity was evident when the Marauders hosted Reading Memorial in the season’s opener. The parking lot was filled, and the stand was crowded as fans entered a dark Wenner Field House, with a single light illuminating the mat. Music blared during the pre-match warm-up, while the score and time were projected on the fieldhouse wall.

In the opening match, the second (or third) generation of Belmont’s vaunted wrestling family hit the mat as first-year Romy Baghdady started the dual match with an exciting 106-pound bout that went the distance, ending at 7-9.

Belmont’s Romy Baghdady

In the following contest, Belmont’s reigning state Div. 1 champion junior, Ava Svistunov, took on her male opponent. (Duel meets allow for co-ed competition since most teams don’t have many female wrestlers). After a guarded first round, Svistunov dominated the second round with speed and grappling prowess, winning via pin. [On Dec. 21, Svistunov pinned her female opponent to take the 107-pound title at the prestigious early-season George Bossi Lowell Holiday tournament]

Unlike past seasons when Belmont would win one or two of the matches, the squad has developed experienced grapplers that are competitive in nearly all weight classes and especially in the middle weight divisions. Will Babcock (150) won in the first round on a quick pin, while Ryan Murphy (157) followed with a big 5-0 third round to win his match. Josh Hartley (165) battled in a high-scoring bout and was leading 10-8 in the third when he used his height advantage to get enough leverage to pin his Reading opponent.

Belmont’s Ava Svistunov

When Enzo Passos (215) pinned his Rocket competitor, the Marauders came into the ultimate bout down by a single point, 33-34, a margin against Reading that hadn’t been seen in recent memory. Ultimatley Belmont would come up seven points short, 33-40.

Belmont’s varsity grapplers at the opening of the season included Max Devitt (120 pounds), Rayan Azhari (126), Walter Pressey (132), captain Luke Coelho (138), who took his match to overtime, Jonathan Doban (144), Max Lewie (175), Jack Papazian (190), and Will Lockwood (285).

Belmont will host the annual Brenden Grant Tournament: Saturday for Boys and Sunday the Girls, Jan. 4 and 5.

Yet it’s not just the wins the wrestlers attained or the popularity the sport has achieved that Janjigian sees as the program’s most valuable asset.

“It’s certainly the participation but it’s also the enthusiasm. There’s a clear sense of joy that the kids are having. That’s my whole thing because it’s one of the most demanding sports you can do, and if you’re not having fun doing it, what are you doing? I like to see the vast majority of the team actually having fun doing it. It is something that I’m very proud of.”