557 Students from 49 States and Territories
to Showcase Talents in Orlando, FL, November 7–10
During the 2018–19 school year, along with other accomplished music students across the United States and overseas in military base schools, Minji Cho from Maggie L Walker Governor’s School practiced with dedication to gain a chair or part in her local, district, and state music honor ensembles.
And now Minji Cho will join the “best of the best” for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) 2019 All-National Honor Ensembles November 7–10, 2019, at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The Jazz Ensemble, Mixed Choir, Guitar Ensemble, and—new this year—Modern Band concerts will take place 7:00–10:00pm, November 9, and the Symphony Orchestra and Concert Band concerts will begin at 9:30am, November 10. The concerts are open to the public. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased online or onsite.
Minji Cho (Chesterfield, ’21) has played the violin for 11 years, picking the instrument up for the first time when she was 5 years old. As a young violinist, Minji was a fast learner, quickly progressing through books of violin repertoire, and she has accomplished numerous achievements through her musical career. In the summer before 6th grade, she auditioned and entered the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, the most advanced youth orchestra in the Richmond area, and has participated in the youth orchestra since, gaining skills essential to musicians playing in an ensemble. Minji has also played in county, regional, and state orchestras each year since her second year of middle school, demonstrating high levels of performance in highly competitive orchestras. In 7th grade, she was the concertmaster of the All-Chesterfield orchestra and the concertmaster of both the All-Chesterfield and the Central Regional Orchestra in 8th grade. As a freshman in high school, she was the concertmaster of the South Central Senior Regional Orchestra despite being one of the youngest participants, placing first out of about 120 violinists who auditioned for a seat in the orchestra. Her freshman and sophomore year, Minji also auditioned and gained entrance into the All-Virginia orchestra that provides only forty-four slots for more than 250 violinists who audition. September of this year, Minji once again placed first in the South Central Senior Regional Orchestra, though she will, unfortunately, be unable to participate in this year due to a date conflict with the All-National Orchestra event. Nevertheless, Minji is proud and honored to play in the NAfME All-National Orchestra this November, representing Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School and the Commonwealth of Virginia. She looks forward to the rare experience in which she will be able to create music alongside fellow musicians from all over the country and hopes this experience will further her understanding of music as a universal language.
The All-National Honor Ensembles performers represent collaboration and creativity in its highest musical form. The All-National Honor Ensembles consist of a concert band, symphony orchestra, mixed choir, jazz ensemble, guitar ensemble (now in its second year), and modern band (new this year). Students were chosen through an audition process. The concert band and symphony orchestra will each have 119 and 121 instrumentalists respectively, the jazz ensemble 20 instrumentalists, the mixed choir 240 vocalists, the guitar ensemble 41 instrumentalists, and the modern band 16 performers.
Selected students will be rehearsing a challenging repertoire in preparation for performing under the direction of six of the most prominent conductors in the United States: Tesfa Wondemagegnehu (Mixed Choir); Soo Han (Symphony Orchestra); Emily Threinen (Concert Band); Todd Stoll with Camille Thurman (Jazz Ensemble); Bill Swick (Guitar Ensemble); and Scott Burstein (Modern Band). All conductors have received top honors in their field and will spend several days rehearsing with students before the concert.
Names, schools and states, as well as music directors, of the 557 2019 All-National Honor Ensemble students will be available at this website late August: nafme.org/ANHE.
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National Association for Music Education, among the world’s largest arts education organizations, is the only association that addresses all aspects of music education. NAfME advocates at the local, state, and national levels; provides resources for teachers, parents, and administrators; hosts professional development events; and offers a variety of opportunities for students and teachers. The Association has supported music educators at all teaching levels for more than a century. With more than 60,000 members teaching millions of students nationwide, the organization is the national voice of music education in the United States.
Follow NAfME on Twitter (twitter.com/nafme) and on Facebook (facebook.com/nafme).
For additional information, contact Catherina Hurlburt at [email protected] or 571-323-3395.
