17 Chelmsford Students Advance To Round 2 For All State Honors

CHELMSFORD, MA — If you're a musician at Chelmsford High School, the fall means auditioning for the prestigious Massachusetts Music Educators Association Northeastern Senior District Music Ensemble.

Of the 24 students across band, orchestra and chorus that qualified, 17 got the green light to move on to the audition for All-State honors. Five received the highest possible score for their instrument or voice part: Ethan DeHaan, who plays alto saxophone, Nick LaCava who plays snare drum, Ethan Meltzer who plays string bass, Alex Moore who plays the trumpet and Keya Upadhyay who plays the flute, the school announced Monday.

"The fact that we had so many students audition and in turn have so many students accepted, in spite of the overall global situation, it shows how important this kind of experience is and how dedicated our students can be," Matt Sexauer, who directs the Chemsford High School bands, said in a statement.

Those five high-achieving students along with the dozen others who advanced this far, will spend a few more weeks practicing and have until Jan. 23 to submit their additions online. Finalists will be announced in February.

In 2019, 22 students qualified, and only 12 advanced to all-state.

The MMEA Northeast District Executive Board canceled in-person events for this school year because of the pandemic, including the all-state performance.

From the school:

Recipients of the MMEA Northeastern Senior District Music Ensemble included:

Student Distinction Instrument

Jacquelyn Brennan-Barbeau* Orchestra String bass

Sarah Buliszak* Band Flute

Holden Crouthamel Band Trombone

Ethan DeHaan*# Band Alto saxophone

Megan Dunn* Chorus --

Jamie Garber Band Alto saxophone

Mia Guaetta Chorus --

Lily Hoyt* Orchestra Cello

Amelia Hughes Band Trumpet

Nick LaCava*^# Band/Orchestra Snare drum

Cynthia Lu Orchestra Violin

Sean McNulty Band Euphonium

Ethan Meltzer*# Orchestra String bass

Philip Miu* Band Snare drum

Alex Moore*+# Band/Jazz Ensemble Trumpet

Ryan Moore* Band Bass clarinet

Kyle Pinto*^ Band/Orchestra Trombone

Bennett Prees*+ Band/Jazz Ensemble Trombone

Sarah Roch* Band Mallets

Daniel Schiefen*+ Band/Jazz Ensemble Trombone

Ryan Spooner Band Trombone

Jack Tallent* Band Tuba

Frank Tsui Orchestra Violin

Keya Upadhyay*^# Band/Orchestra Flute

#Denotes top score in instrument or voice part

*Denotes All-State recommendation

+Denotes jazz ensemble

^Denotes band student selected to perform with orchestra