Last week, juniors Margaret Nicholson and Makiko Miyazaki were accepted to the National Association for Music Education’s All-Eastern Chorus (NAfME).
NAfME is an organization that works to advance music education of students by encouraging the study and creation of music, and sponsors all of the choirs and instrumental ensembles.
“Every state gets a certain percentage of students in it. Maryland, being on of the smaller states, gets six percent of the students who make All-Eastern,” said Jeff Davidson, the Director of Choirs at Whitman.
The students accepted to the All-Eastern Chorus range from Maine to Washington D.C., and need high scores on their all-state auditions in order to be accepted.
“Their scores were very high, last year and this year,” Davidson said. “Also they are juniors, they beat the seniors.”
The All-Eastern Chorus will perform at the NAfME conference in April, held in Providence, Rhode Island.
“In order to prepare for this, the students will be sent their music along with a file of their part and the accompaniment highlighted,” Nicholson said.
All singers will have learned their parts before the conference, and then have to pass a test to see if they know the music once they arrive at the conference.
“If you don’t know your music, then you don’t get to sing in the chorus,” Nicholson said.
All-Eastern has around 300 performers who then must rehearse before the concert, for around 12 hours a day, in two-to-four hour blocks.
After the intense weekend of rehearsal, the students are finally rewarded with the performance they have been waiting for.
According to Davidson, both Nicholson and Miyazaki are known for their strong abilities, dedication, discipline and investment in the program.
“I’m very proud of the girls,” Davidson said. “It’s something they’re going to remember forever. Making All-Eastern is kind of the pinnacle.”
Nicholson said she was pleased to be accepted.
“I felt pretty good,” Nicholson said. “It’s nice to know that I’m a good singer and can perform with a higher level of musicians.”
