A record 66 Belmont High School student musicians – from singers to those who play the Euphonium (that’s a tenor tuba) – were accepted into the Massachusetts Music Educators Association’s Northeastern Senior District Honor Ensembles for band, orchestra, chorus and jazz ensemble after a day of auditions on Saturday, Nov. 15 at North Andover High School.

Those musicians will perform at the MMEA Northeastern District Festival on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2015 at Lowell High School. 

In addition, just under half, 32, of the musicians had audition scored high enough to earn an All-State recommendation, which gives them the opportunity to audition for the state-wide festival later this winter.

A total of 158 students from Belmont High School auditioned for the district festival. What the results do not show was the dozens of students who auditioned and missed the cutoff for acceptance by just a few points. Thirty-four missed the cutoff score by less than five points, and 10 of those by a single point.

“This illustrates the fact that all of the students who auditioned on Nov. 15 are ‘senior district caliber’ musicians who deserve to be honored for their work and their level of musicianship,” said Arto Asadoorian, director of Fine & Performing Arts for the Belmont Public Schools.

“These outstanding district results once again place Belmont High School among elite company statewide when we look at student achievement in music. It is a testament to the dedication, work-ethic and level of artistry our students have achieved with the help of the excellent music educators who work with them each day,” said Asadoorian.

“Belmont prides itself on the quality of education it provides to their children, and music and art education have always played a central role in our curriculum. These results are a reflection of our community’s unwavering support of arts education in our schools,” he said.

The following students for their acceptance into the 2015 MMEA Northeastern Senior District Festival: (*Denotes an All-State recommendation.)

Ben Ackerson, trumpet; Kate Amrein, chorus*; Yilei Bai, alto saxophone*; Sam Bastille, chorus; Sami Belkadi, trumpet*; Erin Cantor, viola; Eleanor Carlile, French horn*; Devon Carter, chorus*; Jessica Chen, viola; Lucas Cmok-Kehoe, chorus*; Ben Crocker, chorus; Olivia Cronin, bassoon; Jocelyn Cubstead, chorus; Eli Dearden, chorus*; Jack Decoulos, violin; Chloe Derba, clarinet; David Dignan, chorus*; Ammu Dinesh, bassoon*; Andrew Eurdolian, oboe*; Julia Fontana, cello*; Mary Galstian, chorus; Riley Grant, trumpet*; Tenny Gregorian, chorus; Sa-Sa Gutterman, trombone*; Eva Hill, chorus; Kiara Holm, clarinet; Haig Hovsepian, alto saxophone; David Johnson, chorus*; Noah Johnston, chorus; Eliza Jones, French horn; Ryan Keeth, snare drum; Helena Kim, euphonium*; Elizabeth Knight, string bass; David Korn, chorus*; Daniel Lay, violin*; Eunice Lee, flute*; Oliver Leeb, chorus; Stephen Lucas, clarinet; Anna Makar-Limanov, chorus*; Solomon Mankin, viola; Eli Martin, trombone; Hannah Messenger, French horn*; Noah Miller-Medzon, chorus; Zoe Miner, chorus*; Sarah Montoya, string bass; Neal Mulani, chorus; Nicholas Osborn, French horn*; Yeonjae Park, cello; Guy Parsons, chorus; Calvin Perkins, trumpet; Connor Quinn, chorus*; Hannah Read, flute/piccolo*; Michael Rodriguez, chorus; Bryan Scordino, chorus; Ned Searls, trumpet*; Edward Stafford, chorus; Jack Stone, bass trombone*; Dongmin Sung, cello; Rafi Wagner, trombone*; Tina Wang, Euphonium; Jasper Wolf, jazz trumpet*; Rowan Wolf, jazz tenor saxophone*; Mary Yeh, string bass*; Thomas Zembowicz, chorus*; Andy Zhang, clarinet and Stephanie Zhang, violin*.

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