Eight Haines High School students travelled to the all-state music festival in Anchorage last weekend. Three were in the running for first chair positions.
The annual music festival draws hundreds of students from around the state where they rehearse and select candidates audition for first-chair placement in the all-state band and choir.
Lydia Andriesen, Hannah Boron and Natalie Jobbins sang in the treble choir. Brennan Palmieri, Logan Borcik and Steven Galinksi sang in the mixed choir. “Haines got the award for most kids in choir in Southeast Alaska,” music teacher Matt Davis said.
Mark Davis and Haley Boron played trumpet in the band. Davis played second-chair trumpet in the orchestra and third-chair trumpet in band. During auditions, Boron moved from the band’s seventh chair to fourth chair.
Six of the Glacier Bears were first-time participants at the music festival. Freshman and sophomore students Davis, Galinski and Palmieri were all in the running for first-chair positions. “To be in the running for first-chair, as a group of freshman and sophomore kids, I thought that was pretty incredible,” Davis said.
Palmieri said he learned more than he expected at the all-state event, the most advanced music festival he’s ever participated in. “I learned a lot about singing with emotion and singing with your own voice,” Palmieri said. “I can tie my life into that and convey a message to the audience.”
Palmieri and other student musicians learned from choir director Bradley Olesen from Dallas, Texas who introduced them to the song “Light in the Hallway,” by Audra Mae. “It was really a powerful piece that really spoke to me,” Palmieri said. “It was talking about how there’s all this bad stuff happening in the world like school shootings and kids dying, (but) there’s always going to be a light in the hallway, there’s always going to be an opportunity to get better.”
At their final gala concert held at West Anchorage High School, the students received multiple standing ovations, Davis said.
“I think they did really well and they had a lot of fun singing with the best musicians in the state and they made us proud,” Davis said. “They represented Haines very well.”
Other performances included “Warm-Up” by Leonard Bernstein, “March Slave” by Peter Tchaikovsky and “Deep River,” a spiritual arranged by Donald Patriquin.