(October 22, 2014) SANTA FE — On October 26 through the 29, New Mexico School for the Arts will send two of its students to the National Association for Music Education’s All-National Honor Ensemble auditions in Nashville, Tennessee. Junior Maggie King (violin) and Senior Sol Sanchez (voice) are two of the six high-school students from New Mexico who have qualified to audition at the National Level. This is the first time New Mexico School for the Arts has sent students to the All-National auditions.
King and Sanchez will join, respectively, the orchestral and choral All-National Honor Ensembles, which are comprised of a concert band, orchestra, mixed chorus, and jazz ensemble, and students were chosen by auditions. The concert band and symphony orchestra will each have approximately 150 instrumentalists, the jazz ensemble 20 instrumentalists, and the mixed chorus approximately 350 vocalists. Eligible students have qualified for their state-level honor ensemble program and competed against top students for a spot in these national honor ensembles.
Neil Swapp, chair of the NMSA Music Department, remarked “It’s a huge honor to have students from NMSA represent our state at the national level. Both students should be commended for their hard work and dedication.”
NMSA is now accepting applications for school year 2015-2016. The application cycle closes in mid-January, and information on admission policies and the application process can be found on its web site, www.NMSchoolForTheArts.org.