Prep Talk
Matthew Balestriere (’17) Performs as a Member of the NAfME All-Eastern Mixed Choir
Posted April 20th, 2017
Matthew Balestriere, Class of 2017, performed on April 8th at the Adrian Phillips Theater located in the historic Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Matthew served as a Tenor II in the All-Eastern Mixed Choir which featured high school students from 11 different states, our nation’s capital and Europe.
Matthew and the fellow high school students who qualified for the concert were led by renowned conductor Tim Seelig and performed Gloria by Randol Alan Bass, Tree of Peace by Gwyneth Walter, The Music of Living by Dan Forrest, Famine Song by VIDA, and Musical Risotto by Jonathan Willcocks. The mixed choir performed Antiphon from Five Mystical Songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams as a combined final with the all-eastern orchestra.
The students rehearsed and got to meet some of the most talented conductors and music educators over a three day period before the performance.
The NAfME (National Association for Music Education) Eastern Division ensembles are organized by NAfME members and administered by NJMEA staff is a long and arduous process. For the 2017 NAfME All-Eastern Honors Ensembles selection process, the NAfME Easter Division state presidents received application instructions in March of 2016 and disseminated to the schools in their respected states. Teachers distributed the application information to their students in the Spring of 2016 and those selected were notified in November of 2016.
You can see Matthew and other talented hermits perform Thursday, April 27th in the Celebration of the Arts Spring Concert. The event will take place on the campus of St. Augustine Prep as it begins with an art exhibit in the Consalo Dining Hall at 6:00 p.m. and concludes with a concert in Rodio Gym beginning at 7:00 p.m.