7th straight title! FA musicians best in the state
HEROES WELCOME — Fryeburg Academy musicians proudly show off their trophies after the Vocal Jazz Ensemble won its seventh straight Division 1 title at the Maine State Vocal Festival held in Ellsworth this past weekend. Fans were on hand to greet the victors.
FRYEBURG — Months and months of rehearsals paid off for Fryeburg Academy Jazz members at the Maine State Vocal Festival held in Ellsworth over this past weekend!
Results were as good as they get with Fryeburg’s Vocal Jazz Ensemble winning its seventh straight Division One title — this one in a particularly competitive year.
Not to be shown-up by their peers, FA’s Eklectic Jazz Choir, made up mostly of underclassmen, also took home first place in the Multiple Choir Division (schools may only enter one group in the Divisional State Finals, so a separate division was created for schools with more than one qualifying jazz choir).
Both ensembles are directed by Academy music director, Brent LaCase.
In addition to the titles, individual awards for outstanding vocal performances were won by Connor Reeves (senior, Division One, Vocal Jazz) and by Andrea Engen and Anna Williams (sophomores, Multi Division, Eklectic).
Both the Vocal Jazz Ensemble and Eklectic Rhythm Sections won Best Rhythm Section awards within their divisions!
Congratulations to:
• Vocal Jazz members Megan MacGillivray, Punika Limpanidom, Louisa Glonner, Ali Gagnon, Cailyn Ludwig, Dana Mozzoni, Emily Ouellette, Eliza Neidlinger, Kevin Brown, Connor Reeves, Matt Stoker, Dan Kurnick, Bjorn Myhre and Steven Flaherty;
• Rhythm Section members Isabelle Boyd (bass), Andrea Ouellette (guitar), Ron Rideout (drums) and Hunter Lyons (piano);
• Eklectic Jazz Choir mem- bers Anna Williams, Andrea Engen, Thea Hart, Connor Sheehan, Joe Schrader, Zack Sheehan, Shannon Friberg, Erin Friberg, Isabel Hodgman-Burns, Ashley Wissman, Makayla Frost, Kellen Scrimger, Brianna Wolf, Jamie Gullickson, Liam LaMountain and their rhythm section, Giovanna Chiarella (guitar), Jared Schrader (bass), Malik Mobley (drums) and Jon Burke (piano).
The public can see these award-winning groups along with the Academy’s Big Band and New Standard Combo at the Stone Mountain Arts Center on Thursday, May 3. Visit www. stonemountainartscenter.com for tickets and information.
