Nanuet HS Hosts Senior All County Music Festival (VIDEO)

Rockland’s student musicians treated friends and family to a two-part music festival at Nanuet HS on Saturday afternoon. The event was run by the Rockland County Music Educators Association (RCMEA) and is one of the season’s highlights. Playing and singing in the Festival were 289 students who represent 13 schools across the county.

Nanuet’s Director of Music and this year’s Site Chair, Dr. Jack Gremli, noted that in addition to RCMEA staff, the festival is an undertaking that requires the help and participation of Nanuet’s whole music faculty.

“The entire music department is sharing the responsibility of Site Chair, although I get the title, and Mr. Mark Skaba is actually the go-to guy on site because I’m doubling as the Women’s Chorus Chair person," said Gremli. "So as we usually do in Nanuet, we’re sharing our responsibilities.”

The All County Band began the concert with a piece called The Sinfonians by Clifton Williams. Conducted by Dr. Bruce Moss, the band then moved through the Overture to Tancredi and a piece called Dusk before finishing with a rousing performance of Jan Van der Roost’s Gypsy Dances. 

Students are granted entrance to All County Band, Orchestra, Women’s Chorus and Mixed Chorus according to the NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) scores they received for solo performances the previous spring. Students playing in the orchestra also had the opportunity to audition for chair and stand positions during Friday’s rehearsals. Regardless of these positions, however, Dr. Gremli pointed out that the festival is special because of its non-competitive atmosphere.

“It’s the best of the best in each of the schools, and the thing that separates this from any other gathering of schools is that there’s no competition. Instead we’re getting together and making music together rather than competing … so it really is rewarding for all the music teachers and all audience members.”

The first half of the concert was wrapped up with a performance by the Women’s Chorus under the direction of Dawn Becker. They sang four selections which included Juego a que me quemo arranged by Julian Gomez Giraldo and A Girl’s Garden by Randall Thompson. The chorus finished with a beautiful rendition of Blessing by Katie Moran Bart.

Eric Sharrin, parent of Women’s Chorus and Mixed Chorus participant Sarah Sharrin, was particularly impressed by the consistently high level of musical ability on display.

“I thought that in both the orchestra and the chorus the kids were just phenomenal,” said Sharrin. “I’ve been to the All State festivals, the Area All State festivals and I’ve been to the All County festivals. This has to be about my eighth one and every time I come here I am pleasantly surprised by the level of music that these kids come up with. It’s just wonderful to see them every year, and I look forward to it.”

That sentiment was echoed by RCMEA President Donna Cardillo as she pointed out that returning students benefit from the sense of community the festival creates.

“It’s nice because some kids will be in year after year so they develop relationships with kids from other school districts, and then some of them will then go on to Area All State and All State,” said Cardillo. “It’s nice for them to see that it’s not just their school and their group but to get a bigger picture of the entire county. We have some private schools that are part of it as well so I think that they get a real sense of making music together no matter where they’re from.”

The second half of the festival was opened by the All County Orchestra which played Sospiri, Opus 70 by Edward Elgar. Conducted by Jeffery Grogan, the group followed with Shostakovich’s Sinfonia from String Quartet No. 8 and Leonard Bernstein’s America from West Side Story.

Closing the show was the Mixed Chorus, conducted by Richard Moss. They performed Canon in Swing by Rieks Veenker, Shenandoah, arranged by James Erb, Lacrymosa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Blow the Candles Out, arranged by Greg Smith. The final piece was the stirring Ezekiel Saw De Wheel by William L. Dawson.

The RMCEA produces three festivals each year, beginning with grades four through six at Intermediate level, then grades seven through nine—which are Junior level—and then finally Senior level, which includes grades ten through twelve. The schools represented at this year’s festivals are:

• Clarkstown North
• Clarkstown South
• Ramapo
• Spring Valley
• Nanuet
• North Rockland
• Nyack
• Pearl River
• Suffern
• Tappan Zee
• Albertus Magnus
• Green Meadow Waldorf School
• Rockland Country Day School

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