Long Valley Student Honored For Outstanding Vocal Talent

LONG VALLEY, NJ — A student from Long Valley was one of several honored by the Mayo Performing Arts Center as an October Music Student Of The Month for being an outstanding vocalist.

Lars Olsen, an 11th grader from West Morris Central, was honored on stage before the Oct. 17 concert at Mayo PAC. All the students were nominated by their teachers and chosen by Mayo PAC's education department. At the end of the year, all honored students will be invited to perform in a recital.

Here is what teacher Mark Stingle had to say about Olsen:

Lars Olsen has been a stalwart in the West Morris Central choral program for the past 2 years and will continue to be so for the next two years. Besides his obvious skill, Lars has been involved in many honors groups at all levels - Morris Area Honors Choir (2), Region 1 Honors Choir (2), All-State Choir (2), where is currently the 9th ranked Tenor 2 this year in NJ. He has also been involved in acapella and SATB choirs every year since being at WMC. As an actor, Lars was voted best Actor in a drama last year for the FOXY Awards and he has been a featured role as Donnal in West Morris Central's production of The Pirate Queen in 2018. Besides all of the accolades, Lars is a brilliant young musician with a passion to perform at every turn

1st row (L-R): Avery Harrington Grade 8, Brooklawn Middle School; Parsippany. Catherine Herbes, Grade 8, Mendham Township Middle School; Mendham. Ava Capetta, Grade 8, Rockaway Valley School; Boonton. Kayla Marvin, Grade 8, Mt Olive Middle School; Budd Lake. Whitney McDonnell, Grade 11, Morristown Beard School. Emma Stark, Grade 8, Black River Middle School; Chester. 2nd row: Saira Alam Grade 12, West Morris Mendham High School; Mendham. Mollie Anger Grade 7, Pequannock Valley Middle School; Pompton Plains. Caitlin Chien Grade 12, Kinnelon High School; Kinnelon. Cassidy Davis Grade 8, John Hill School; Boonton. 3rd row: Kevin Gilroy Grade 11, Hanover Park High School; East Hanover. Casey Obaytek, Grade 12, Jefferson Township High School. Lars Olsen, Grade 11, West Morris Central School, Chester.