Two Somerville High Students To Perform At Boston's Symphony Hall

SOMERVILLE, MA — Two Somerville High School students are scheduled to perform early next month at Boston's Symphony Hall as part of the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) All-State Concert.

During the March 4 show, SHS clarinetist Ultraviolet Gates is scheduled to play with the All-State Band, while SHS alto 2 Alice Gamache will perform as part of the All-State Chorus. The students will take part in rehearsals in the two days leading up to the show.

The duo was part of a group of four SHS students that participated in last month's MMEA Eastern District Music Festival, the auditions for which were held last November.

Joining Gates and Gamache at the Eastern District Music Festival were SHS students Leila Smee, who was chosen for orchestra, and Leo Ellsworth, selected for band.

"Somerville High School Music and Theatre Department is fortunate to have some of the most talented students in the region," said Beverly J. Mosby, Somerville Public Schools supervisor of Music and Theatre Arts. "We are so very proud of our students and their teachers who spend extra time to prepare them. A very special thank you goes to (Somerville Public Schools band teacher) Rosemary Sears and the parents who facilitated both auditions."

According to Somerville Public Schools, the district's music department offers music instruction beginning in preschool. Instrument instruction begins in Grades 3 and 4. The district coordinates inexpensive instrument rental for students, and students unable to afford instruments are provided with school-owned instruments.

Additionally, the district features the El Sistema after school music program at East Somerville Community School, and middle grades district-wide chorus, band and orchestra programs.