Gold Again
High School North Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Mark Bencivengo, performed at the New Jersey Music Educators Association/National Band Association Concert Band Festival held at South Brunswick High School on March 16. For the third year in a row, the ensemble received a rating of Gold (Superior), an honor held by only six of the more than 25 bands from the region (Central Jersey) that participated. The band performed two contemporary pieces, “Noisy Wheels of Joy” by Eric Whitacre, and “Vesuvius” by Frank Ticheli.
Wind Ensemble musicians include Annette Lee, piccolo; Etryesse Dunn, Steve Kim, Courtney Pisani, and Rose Lin, flute; Chris Kosar, oboe; Piya Radia, oboe and English Horn; Renee Stewart and Christine Tadie, bassoon; Minjung Sohn, Eb clarinet; Andrew Delman, David Lin, Minjung Sohn, Michelle Melzer, Christine Scafa, Stephanie Sun, Anita Lin, Allison Musante, and Jimmy Qin, Bb clarinet; and Megan Hillsdon and Karlie O’Cone, bass clarinet.
Also, Paris Thomas, contra bass clarinet; Matt Mazur, soprano saxophone; Adam Sutton and Matt Mazur, alto saxophone; Phil Chacko and John Francis, tenor saxophone; Eric Sohn, baritone saxophone; Serena Wang, Ragini Sharma, Anna Osbourne, and Jenny Liang, French horn; Joe Martinez, Jeff Hagan, Doug Nosko, Peter Wu, Doug Gitomer, and John Plumeri, trumpet; Chris Xu, Rohit Kabra, David Fruhling, and Dylan Roth, trombone; Colin Bitter and Lara Shearer, tuba; Matt Slayton, piano/Celeste; Lauren Harrison, Suzanne Haggerty, Laura McGregor, Stephanie Sun, Dan Rosenbaum, and Chris Wieck, percussion.
The band received a bronze award at the Central Jersey Music Educator’s Association band festival held at South Brunswick High School on March 14.
The Symphonic Band at High School South received a silver award at the South Brunswick event. South also received a special award for Best Woodwinds. The band is directed by Scott Collins.
The Wind Symphony at High School South, directed by Anthony Pappalardo, won a silver award
Benefit Concert
High School South Symphony Orchestra and Concert Choir performed a concert in aid of a city center for homeless people. The event, held at Greyfriars Kirk in Scotland, will be donated to the Grassmarket Mission. The groups traveled through Scotland beginning on Friday, March 25.
On Tour
Kierstin Gray, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School graduate, is on her first tour in the United Kingdom. Her next stop is in Detroit, Michigan. For information about her career and other gigs, visit www.kierstingray.com.
On Stage
Ashley Hencken of West Windsor is in the musical “Hair” at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Florham Park campus from April 13 to 17. Tickets are $10. Call 973-443-8644.
Hencken, a recipient of the 2004 West Windsor & Plainsboro News scholarship, graduated from High School South in June. (The News, August 13, 2004).
She is the daughter of Elizabeth O’Hare, who has been an administrative assistant at Maurice Hawk School for 30 years, and John Hencken, a Robbinsville resident. Her sisters are Courtney, 23, a teacher of autistic children in Maryland, and Mary Elizabeth, 30, a kindergarten teacher in the Lake George area of New York.
After many years of singing and being on stage, Ashley is majoring in theater arts at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison.
