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Hamden Hall Country Day School
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Musical Ambassadors Selected to Represent at Regionals

Hamden Hall’s Music Department – both choral and instrumental – once again broke its own record for the number of students selected to the Southern Regional Choir and Orchestra.

In addition, Hamden Hall had the largest number of students selected from among the various private and public schools in the southern region that were on hand vying for spots in the prestigious choir and orchestra.

“I am incredibly proud of our talented and dedicated students,” said Middle and Upper School music teacher Matt Harrison. “We broke our previous record of representatives and had 16 of our 33 earning regionals recognition for the first time.”

Out of the 37 choral students who auditioned, 33 earned spots. Last year Hamden Hall had 32 students selected to the choir. Eleven instrumental students also earned recognition – four more than last year. All of the selected students are now eligible to audition for the Connecticut All-State Choir and Orchestra in February.

According to Mr. Harrison, the 2020 Southern Regional Choir is made up of 225 singers from 40 schools. They will gather at Maloney High School in Meriden on January 10 and 11.

Also announced this week was the Middle School Southern Regional Choir and Orchestra. All six choral students who auditioned were selected, breaking the school’s previous record of five. Three Middle School instrumentalists were also selected.

“I'm really pleased with their accomplishments,” maintained Mr. Harrison. “We had our Leadership Counsel in the Upper School help mentor these students through a stressful audition process.”

The Leadership Counsel is made up of Samantha Aitro, Mari Clark, Isabel Dunlap, Julia Pandolfi, Todd Tan, Andrew Neubauer, Eduardo Pagliaro-Haque, and Timi Afolalu. Counsel members attended a recent one-hour rehearsal to speak with the Middle School students about what it's like to audition and to help them with their reading skills, Mr. Harrison said.

Upper School Regional Choir Representatives: Rosa Wang (2019 All State), Todd Tan (National Association for Music Educators All National Choir, 2019), Zean Wu, Candice Wang, Mari Clark (Regional spot all four years), Julia Pandolfi (2019 All State), Chavon Patterson, Eduardo Pagliaro-Haque (Regional spot all four years), Gaileen Andal, Andrew Neubauer, Daniel Zhang, Timi Afolalu, Aidan Armstrong, Samantha Aitro, Isabel Dunlap, Katherine Jiang, Ivy Tian, Charlotte Ren, Parker Schultz, Julia Davies, Ashley Hu, Georgia Yu, Ken Ellis, Elena Li, Chloé Curtiss, Helen Chen, Gabriela Rosen, Liliana Boone, Ivy Chen, Kaleb Cohen, Cooper DeGirolomo, Justdinian Ding, and Vaani Chopra.

Upper School Regional Orchestra Representatives: Daniel Vash: Flute; Lucy Xu: Flute; Eduardo Pagliaro-Haque: Oboe; Steven Zhang: Clarinet; Parker Schultz: Alto Saxophone; Bailey Smoko: Trumpet; Gaileen Andal: Violin; Nicholas Ma: Violin; Sadie Shi: Violin; Liliana Boone: Violin; and Kate Xie: Harp

Middle School Regional Choir Representatives: Casey Armstrong, Monica Ehrenfels, Leo Ehrenfels, Evan Heath, Vedant Aryan, and Monte Meng.

Middle School Regional Orchestra Representatives: Isabel Yang: Flute; Monica Ehrenfels: Viola; and Leo Ehrenfels: Trumpet.
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