Elite Music Groups Select Malverne Students

The "M" in M.H.S. could also stand for 'music' as Malverne High School students continue to dazzle with their musical accomplishments.

Last year, the school's marching band took home a state and this past month, four students were selected to be a part of two elite performance groups.

Zachary St. John, who plays trumpet, Ashanti Graham, a Baritone hornist, and Samantha Henry, a vocal Soprano, were recently invited to participate in this year’s New York State School Music Association’s All-State Music Festival. The festival, which will be held in Rochester in early December, will feature nearly 900 high school student-musicians from throughout New York State.

Graham and Henry, both juniors, and a senior student, Jahlil Burke, were also chosen to perform at the American Choral Director’s Association (ACDA) Eastern Division Conference in Providence, Rhode Island in February. Graham and Burke will perform in the Bass section, and Henry with the Sopranos.

Students auditioned for a spot in the conference by submitting a digital recording of themselves, each singing two solo songs and scales, to the Association in June of 2011. The selected students were notified in September.

This is the first time the Malverne school district has had someone selected for this prestigious ensemble. The three were also accepted into the ACDA Eastern Division Latino Repertoire Ensemble Honor Choir, conducted by guest conductor Juan Tony Guzman, a music professor at Luther College.

In a press release, the district congratulated these four students and said it is "confident that they will represent the pride of Malverne well."