Three LI ensembles selected for national festival

Three Long Island school music ensembles are among 66 nationwide selected to perform next month at a prestigious national festival.

Glen Cove High School's Select Chorale and Herricks High School's cello quartet and clarinet trio will be among those featured at Music for All's 2019 National Festival in Indianapolis on March 14-16. Music for All is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the role of music and the arts in education.

Glen Cove's Select Chorale is one of 12 ensembles chosen for the festival's National Choir Festival. Herrick's quartet and trio are among 10 ensembles selected for the festival's Chamber Music National Festival.

To be considered, the schools submitted audio recordings that displayed their technical proficiency, musical expression and artistry.

"These incredible young musicians are representative of Herricks in so many ways," Herricks orchestra teacher Catherine Fish said. "They are bright, hardworking and dedicated students who are self-motivated. Coaching them in chamber music is a pleasure because they come to sessions prepared and ready to perfect the smallest details."

Herricks' cello quartet is comprised of students Dara Bao, Justin Koe, Kyle Pinzon and Justin Yang. Members of the clarinet trio are Julia Feldman, Grace Kang and Ju Young Yi.

MIDDLE ISLAND

Advocacy in Action

The Longwood Central School District's Music Department has received a 2019 Advocacy in Action Award in the gold level of the press-media kit category from the nonprofit Music for All for demonstrating a "commitment to increasing the visibility" of the music program, the nonprofit said.

The music department's efforts included creating car magnets stating "We Proudly Support THE ARTS in Longwood."

"We are so proud to have Longwood associated with Music for All and the other school music programs that received this recognition," said Jim Gallagher, Longwood's music and fine arts director.

COUNTYWIDE

"Souper Bowls"

Many local schools, in an annual effort that takes its name from the Super Bowl, worked to help the needy by donating cans of soup and other nonperishable items as part of "Souper Bowl" food collections.

In Commack, North Ridge Primary School students collected 11,795 cans and bags of soup — a school record — for Long Island Cares. The donated cans were arranged into the shapes of a lighthouse, a pirate ship and a cargo ship by physical education teacher Patricia Esposito.

In Centerport, Washington Drive Primary's Acts of Kindness Committee collected 425 canned items for the school's food pantry by asking students to place them into the bucket of the team they thought would win this year's game: the Los Angeles Rams or the New England Patriots.

Robin Cahill's fifth-grade class at Albany Avenue Elementary School in Lindenhurst collaborated with the school's Compact Committee to host a drive that collected more than 1,400 cans of soup for Long Island Cares. 

ISLANDWIDE

Bright Lights

Twenty-three Long Island educators are recipients of Bright Light Awards from Suffolk ASSET — the Association of Suffolk Supervisors for Educational Technologies — for their efforts to integrate technology into the classroom.

Winners and their school districts are: Sheila Mauriello, Cold Spring Harbor; Katina Tucci, Comsewogue; Colleen Garofola, Copiague; Ashley DeAcetis, Deer Park; Colette Hardy, East Williston; Nicole Correia, Elwood; Frank Hufnagel, Hauppauge; Kristin Fortunato, Huntington; Sam Kruse, Kings Park; Jeannette Walsh, Lindenhurst; Kristen Cogan, Northport-East Northport; Maria Kim and Janet Link, Oyster Bay-East Norwich; Michelle Sullivan and Alison McKeough, Patchogue-Medford; Kryn Olson, Sag Harbor; Lisa Hartman, Sayville; Jennifer O'Dougherty and Janine D'Elia, South Huntington; William Hallman, Springs; Sean Dowling, Three Village; Greg Hartranft, West Babylon; and Nick Kochis, Westhampton Beach.