Rivers Musicians Perform in Festival
Eight Rivers students braved the cold—and snow delay—this weekend to perform in the Senior District Music Festival, sponsored by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association and held at Boston Latin School. They were Lindy Billhardt ’19, string bass, orchestra; Ella Caggiano’19, chorus; Alex Clay ’18, clarinet, band; Emilia DeJesus '19, chorus; Michael Manasseh ’19, drums, jazz band; Joe Nedder ’18, trombone, jazz band; Simonida Spasojevic ’19, flute, orchestra; and Daniel Weitz ’20, cello, orchestra.
Of those, six musicians also received All-State recommendations, which qualifies them to audition on January 20 to perform in the All-State Festival in early March: Billhardt, Clay, DeJesus, Manasseh, Nedder, and Spasojevic. Both Manasseh and Nedder performed last year with the All-State Jazz Band, Manasseh as the sole percussionist, and Nedder as one of four trombonists.
Rivers’ Middle School musicians will also be auditioning on January 27 at Needham High School for an invitation to participate in the Eastern District Junior Festival, which is held in mid-March.
Looking ahead, the Honors Big Band and the Select I combo will be competing at the Berklee High School Competition on Saturday, February 10. Meanwhile, both the Big Band and Select Combo have been preparing audition tapes for upcoming competitions: the annual Mingus Competition held in New York City in mid-April and the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City in mid-May.
"Essentially Ellington is a new competition for us, but we're entering this year with the Honors Big Band," said Jazz Director Philippe Crettien. "The competition is extremely competitive since performing arts schools and regular high schools vie for just 15 spots nationwide, in order to compete live at Lincoln Center!"
"Essentially Ellington is a new competition for us, but we're entering this year with the Honors Big Band," said Jazz Director Philippe Crettien. "The competition is extremely competitive since performing arts schools and regular high schools vie for just 15 spots nationwide, in order to compete live at Lincoln Center!"
© 2021 The Rivers School. All Rights Reserved
Rivers admits academically qualified students and does not discriminate against students or families on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or ethnic or national origin in the administration of its educational programs, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic programs, and other school-administered programs.