All-County

Dear WCSMA Members:

Dear WCSMA Choral Colleagues,

We hope this correspondence finds you well.  We’d like to introduce ourselves- we are Hannah Geiling and Emily Ilson and are delighted to be serving as the Co-Coordinators for this year’s All County Chorus Festival. We are writing to share important information regarding nomination and registration for Intermediate and Elementary All County Choruses. Please read this email carefully, as some information has shifted from last year, while some details remain the same.

1. Venue & Important Dates

• All rehearsals as well as the performance will be held at New Rochelle High School.
• The first rehearsal will be Monday, February 12th, 2024 (3 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)
  Snow Date is Tuesday, February 13th, 2024.
• The second rehearsal will be Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 (3 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)
  Snow Date is Wednesday, March 6th, 2024.  
• The concert will be on Sunday, March 10th, at 1 pm (arrival for students at 10 am.)
  Snow Date is Sunday, March 17th, at

2. Nominations and Venue Capacity

Based on our venue capacity, we are able to accommodate similar representation from each building as last year’s festival. Kindly complete the nomination form for your students no later than Friday, November 17th. 

Elementary All-County Chorus (SA: 5th, and 6th graders only)

• Each building may recommend ONE DUET (Soprano, Alto) of students.
• If you have multiple teachers within your building, please negotiate who should complete the recommendation form below; of course, all WCSMA teachers are welcome to attend rehearsals, regardless of who completed the form.
• Fill out this Form:  Click here for Elementary Nomination Form

3. Please share details about the festival with the students/families you are recommending so that they are aware of the commitment and do not foresee any conflicts with the rehearsals and concerts. An example form you may share is listed below:

• Example Form to share with students to gauge their commitment/schedules:
• *This form does not need to be submitted to WCSMA. This is just for you to confirm whether the students you are recommending are able to commit to their obligations for the festival.

4. As soon as numbers are finalized we will send out an official commitment form for students to complete along with the next steps.

We are so excited to get this festival underway and for all of our students to share in this wonderful performance opportunity! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either of us:

Musically,

Your All County Chorus Co-Coordinators:

Hannah Geiling                                   Emily Ilson
Scarsdale UFSD                                 Ossining UFSD

hgeiling@scarsdaleschools.org      eilson@ossiningufsd.org

Dear WCSMA Choral Colleagues,

We hope this correspondence finds you well.  We’d like to introduce ourselves- we are Hannah Geiling and Emily Ilson and are delighted to be serving as the Co-Coordinators for this year’s All County Chorus Festival. We are writing to share important information regarding nomination and registration for Intermediate and Elementary All County Choruses. Please read this email carefully, as some information has shifted from last year, while some details remain the same.

1. Venue & Important Dates

• All rehearsals as well as the performance will be held at New Rochelle High School.
• The first rehearsal will be Monday, February 12th, 2024 (3 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)
  Snow Date is Tuesday, February 13th, 2024.
• The second rehearsal will be Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 (3 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)
  Snow Date is Wednesday, March 6th, 2024.  
• The concert will be on Sunday, March 10th, at 1 pm (arrival for students at 10 am.)
  Snow Date is Sunday, March 17th, at

2. Nominations and Venue Capacity

Based on our venue capacity, we are able to accommodate similar representation from each building as last year’s festival. Kindly complete the nomination form for your students no later than Friday, November 17th. 

• Intermediate All-County Chorus (SAB: 7th, 8th, and 9th graders)
  • Each building may recommend ONE TRIO (Soprano, Alto, Baritone) of students.
  • If you have multiple teachers within your building, please negotiate who should complete the recommendation form below; of course, all WCSMA teachers are welcome to attend rehearsals, regardless of who completed the form.
  • Fill out this Form: Click here for Intermediate All-County Nomination Form

3. Please share details about the festival with the students/families you are recommending so that they are aware of the commitment and do not foresee any conflicts with the rehearsals and concerts. An example form you may share is listed below:

• Example Form to share with students to gauge their commitment/schedules:
• *This form does not need to be submitted to WCSMA. This is just for you to confirm whether the students you are recommending are able to commit to their obligations for the festival.

4. As soon as numbers are finalized we will send out an official commitment form for students to complete along with the next steps.

We are so excited to get this festival underway and for all of our students to share in this wonderful performance opportunity! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either of us:

Musically,

Your All County Chorus Co-Coordinators:

Hannah Geiling                                   Emily Ilson
Scarsdale UFSD                                 Ossining UFSD

hgeiling@scarsdaleschools.org      eilson@ossiningufsd.org

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2024 Elementary & Intermediate All-County Orchestra Information 

I hope you have all had a wonderful school year so far. For those of you who are new to the county, my name is Shadman Mirza, your All-County Orchestra Coordinator. I am thrilled to welcome back our chairpeople from last year – Gabriella Savino for the Elementary festival, and Melissa Neyer for the Intermediate festival. Below you will find details about this year’s nomination and registration process. Please read this carefully as we are shifting to using Da Capo for this year’s nomination process. Please also make sure your contact information in Da Capo is up-to-date so you don’t miss any future correspondence related to this festival.

1. Venue and important dates 

• Rehearsals and the performance will all take place at New Rochelle High School. ● Our first rehearsal will be on Monday, February 12th, 2024. (3:00 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)

○ Snow Date is Tuesday, February 13th, 2024. 

• Our second rehearsal will be on Tuesday, March 5th, 2024 (3:00 pm arrival, 3:30-6:30 rehearsal.)

○ Snow Date is Wednesday, March 6th, 2024. 

• The concert will be on Saturday, March 9th, 2024. Arrival for students will be 11:30 a.m.
• ○ The Snow Date is Saturday, March 16th, 2024. 

2. Nominations and Venue Capacity 

Based on our venue capacity, we will be able to accept similar numbers to last year’s festival. Nominations are open as of today for both the Elementary and Intermediate All-County Orchestras on the WCSMA Da Capo website: https://wcsma.dacapomusicfestivals.com. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, November 17.

To nominate a student:

• Click on “Nominate Instrumental Students” on the left-hand menu.
• Select the “Division” for which you are entering students (Elementary Orchestra, Intermediate Orchestra)
• Enter information for each student, including name, instrument, current grade in school, NYSSMA score from Spring 2023, and any comments about the student that can support your nomination.

After selections for both ensembles have been made, teachers will receive the next steps for accepted students, with a copy of this information to be shared with families of accepted students. Teachers of non-accepted students will also receive separate correspondence at this time.

We are looking forward to getting this festival underway and for all of our students to share in this wonderful performance opportunity! If you have any questions, please reach out to me or Jamie Stroffolino directly.

Sincerely,

Shadman Mirza Jamie Stroffolino

All-County Orchestra Coordinator President, WCSMA

Irvington UFSD Lakeland CSD

shadman.mirza@irvingtonschools.org jstroffolino@lakelandschools.org

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1/16/24

Dear string colleagues,

The All-County Orchestra music will be available for pickup on Monday, January 22nd, and Tuesday, January 23rd at the following times/locations:

8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Irvington High School
40 North Broadway
Irvington, NY 10533

When approaching campus, turn right into the bus loop – please park on the left side of the island. The right lane is for buses only. There is a Google Maps screenshot attached to help guide you. The music will be in the security vestibule, which will be to your right after you park. Music will be sorted alphabetically by district. There will be a pile for the elementary festival and another for the intermediate festival.

If you cannot make any of these dates/times, please reach out to jstroffolino@lakelandschools.org or shadman.mirza@irvingtonschools.org and we will help make alternate arrangements.

Thank you,
Shadman

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Dear WCSMA Members:

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1/16/24

Dear string colleagues,

The All-County Orchestra music will be available for pickup on Monday, January 22nd, and Tuesday, January 23rd at the following times/locations:

8:00 am – 4:00 pm
Irvington High School
40 North Broadway
Irvington, NY 10533

When approaching campus, turn right into the bus loop – please park on the left side of the island. The right lane is for buses only. There is a Google Maps screenshot attached to help guide you. The music will be in the security vestibule, which will be to your right after you park. Music will be sorted alphabetically by district. There will be a pile for the elementary festival and another for the intermediate festival.

If you cannot make any of these dates/times, please reach out to jstroffolino@lakelandschools.org or shadman.mirza@irvingtonschools.org and we will help make alternate arrangements.

Thank you,
Shadman

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Dear WCSMA Members:

Elementary Band – Christine Dookie

Intermediate Band – Uma Karkala

Uma Karkala comes to the NYC music scene as a flutist/saxophonist, educator, composer, and arranger. She attended the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and graduated with a BFA in Jazz Studies. She received her M.A. degree in Music Education from Lehman College, CUNY. She has performed with Frank Wess, The Duke Ellington Band, N’Dea Davenport, and many others. Ms. Karkala is an active performer in both the jazz and classical venues.

She has 20 years of experience as an educator as well. She has taught at Lehman College, Fordham University, LaGuardia Community College, in the public schools of New York City, and currently Bronxville where she is the 6-12 Band Director. In addition to teaching in the public schools of New York State, she has also been the director at The Lincoln Center Middle School Jazz Academy for the past 4 years.

Elementary Chorus – Erica Zimmerman

Erica Zimmerman is currently the General Music and Choral teacher at Chatsworth Avenue School in Larchmont, NY.
For 16 years, she has taught all grades, kindergarten through fifth, as well as the 4th and 5th-grade chorus’ and the
Chatsworth Chimes (a select group of 5th-grade students).

Chorally, under her direction, the students at Chatsworth Avenue School have participated in yearly winter and spring concerts,
performed at the Larchmont Avenue Church Pre-School each holiday season, and have performed at the local farmer’s market.

Additionally, she has spent the past 6 years as the director of the Cantus Ensemble at the Westchester Children’s Chorus. This group consists of children in third through fifth grade. In addition to selecting a variety of repertoire and directing this wonderful group of children, she worked collaboratively to create a choral curriculum that provided each one of our students with a quality musical experience. Erica is excited to begin her next adventure as a board member of the Westchester Children’s Chorus this fall.

Intermediate Chorus  – Holden Maiorana

Holden Maiorana is the Director of Choirs at Spackenkill High School in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he also runs the high school drama program Spack Onstage. He holds music education degrees from The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam (BM) and Ithaca College (MM). Domestically, Holden and his groups have performed at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Beacon Theatre on Broadway. He has also conducted abroad in France, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Holden has had the pleasure of guest conducting various All-County festivals, along with the Orchestra of Northern New York, the Holst Festival Choir, and Crane’s Treble Choir, the Phoenix Club. Holden’s classical endeavors include performances with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Hudson Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Chamber Orchestra of New York. In the realm of musical theatre, Holden is a frequent music director/accompanist for educational and professional theatres and has performed alongside Broadway veterans like Patti LuPone and Patti Murin. He is an adjudicator for NYSSMA Solo Festival as well as the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, and regularly presents topics in Music Education research at regional, state-wide, and national conferences.

Elementary Orchestra – Brittany Robinson-Chen

Ms. Brittany Robinson-Chen (Ms. R-C) is in her ninth year teaching orchestra in Edgemont UFSD, with an additional nine years teaching orchestra, band, and general music in Sullivan County, NY. Having spent her early childhood dreaming of playing violin, (and rocking out to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on cassette tape with her shoebox violin!) having the opportunity to work with such amazing students in Westchester is a dream come true. She followed a somewhat unconventional path to get here, having started playing saxophone in 4th grade, violin in 7th, and finally viola as a freshman in high school. Ms. R-C was a saxophone major who also played viola throughout her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and the University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music.

While she loved her many years of band-centric study and teaching, it wasn’t until she was finishing her graduate degree and was asked to sub with a local professional orchestra that the tides began to shift and she realized the viola section was her home. She never looked back! Currently, Ms. R-C enjoys teaching students in grades 7-12 at Edgemont Junior Senior High School, but until the Fall of 2023, she worked with students in grades 4-12. She is also the Teacher Leader for Fine and Performing Arts, grades K-12.

Throughout her first 17 years of teaching, she always taught 4th and 5th grade. She loves elementary orchestra students because they are filled with potential and their energy is limitless! While she is excited about her new role as director for grades 7-12 in Edgemont, she misses the “little string beans” from elementary school, and was honored to be nominated to direct the WCSMA All-County Elementary Orchestra. When Ms. R-C is not teaching, she enjoys practicing to keep up with the Greater Newburgh Symphony Orchestra and spending time with her family in Dutchess County, NY

Intermediate Orchestra – Lauren Rigby

Lauren Rigby is a cellist and educator from the New York City area. After completing her Ph.D. at NYU, she began teaching full-time at the Hackley School in Tarrytown, NY, where she coordinates the orchestra and chamber music programs for the Middle and Upper schools. She is the most recent recipient of the Ferraro Chair of the Arts at Hackley, a distinguished teaching position, which she will fulfill for 4 years. Dr. Rigby enjoys music from a wide range of genres and cultures and continually strives to bring this variety into her classroom and her performances. She studied cello with Andres Diaz at Boston University and Marion Feldman at NYU where she completed research on cellist-improvisers and shifting paradigms in cello performance and education.

Rehearsals

FEBRUARY 12
Instrumental & Choral Rehearsal #1
*Snow Date 2/13*

MARCH 5
Instrumental & Choral Rehearsal #2
*Snow Date 3/6*