NFA Musician Selected for "Best of the Best" All Eastern Chorus
“According to my parents, I have been singing since before I was able to talk,” shared Musante. Officially speaking, Grace began taking voice lessons at the age of seven and began classical training a few years ago. Fast forward to this year and the positive results of that training have shown themselves. This year alone, Grace has been accepted to OCMEA All-County Chorus, the New York State School Music Association’s (NYSSMA) Area All-State Treble Chorus, All-State Vocal Jazz Ensemble (one of twenty-four students in the state), All-State Mixed Chorus, and All Eastern’s Treble Chorus, which brings together the “best of the best” singers from the eleven states in the East Coast Division.
Grace has honed her craft through dozens of performances and musical opportunities. Transitioning from Horizons on the Hudson to South Middle School, Grace started participating in school-based groups and productions. In middle school, Musante played for the band, performed in Annie and sang for choruses in and out of school. She also was chosen and rehearsed to be Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but the show closed down a week before opening night due to the pandemic.
While at Newburgh Free Academy, Grace has taken an active part in the performing arts programs. As a freshman, she was in the musical "All Together Now,” the Acapella chorus and the band. Since then, Grace has starred in The Addams Family as Morticia Addams and performed with choral groups Acapella, Madrigals, and Chaminade. Grace has danced with the NFA Advanced Dance team, playing Buddy the Elf in Merry Mayhem!, and starred in the spring musical, Hairspray as Velma Von Tussle. Grace will also be a lead role in this year's spring musical of Footloose, where she will play Vi Moore.
Grace has taken the guidance she received from her school experiences and private lessons and applied them to various competitive scenarios. Since freshman year, Grace has been chosen for OCMEA’s All-County Chorus, Jazz Chorus, and Area All-State, where she advanced to NYSSMA’s prestigious All-State Performance Group. She has earned the score of 100 on three separate NYSSMA exams in both Classical Voice and in Jazz. This year, she continued to be recognized on the local, state and regional level.
During her summers, Grace attended multiple vocal intensives for Opera study. After sophomore year, she attended one in Interlochen, which is a world-renowned arts camp in Michigan, and one in Queens College. The summer after her junior year, Grace was one of thirty students selected nationally to participate in the Schmidt Vocal Institute at Miami University of Ohio. She also attended a six-week program at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, an internationally acclaimed program in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. These experiences helped her realize her passion for classical singing and shaped many of her future goals.
Grace spends much of her free time volunteering and teaching other young people, particularly in singing and dancing. When asked to give advice to younger students who are interested in singing, Grace shared, “I would emphasize the importance of establishing strong technique most suitable to them in order to create a sustainable, free, and expressive voice. That means singing in a healthy way and allowing yourself to progress without judgment. This is most likely to happen when you avoid comparing yourself to others who are older or have a different voice than you. It is also very important to enjoy yourself and embrace others who also have a passion for music. Music creates wonderful communities - admire and learn from your peers, but don’t measure yourself by their performance. Everybody has their own artistic journey, so together we can continue to help each other grow and keep the beauty of music alive.”
After graduating from Newburgh Free Academy, Grace would like to major in Voice and Opera and possibly pursue a second major in Business, Vocal Pedagogy or a similar field when she is in college. She hopes to be a professional opera singer, a college professor, and own a studio that makes classical singing available to all students regardless of their financial background.
Grace is pictured with her NFA Director of Choirs and music teacher, Mr. TJ Swetz.
“I knew that Grace was bound to be successful from the moment that I met her,” TJ said. “She has one of the most mature sounding voices for a student her age thanks to all of the private voice teachers that she has had growing up. The biggest area of music that I had to work with her on was mostly music theory/literacy based. Once I honed those skills, she has become an artist unlike no other that I have worked with. I know she is destined for excellence in the performance realm once she graduates and any person that she gets to work for/with will be fortunate because she is just a special gem in this world. I have been so lucky to work with Grace over the past 3 years that I have known her and I will truly miss having her in my classroom. She teaches me just as much as I teach her about music! I am so incredibly proud and honored to have been her teacher at NFA Main.”
About the NYSSMA Area All-State Ensembles:
The Area All-State band, orchestra, and chorus are open to students in grades ten through twelve. Students are selected for these groups based on their NYSSMA Solo adjudications from the previous school year. This audition is competitive - students are competing with students from Greene, Ulster, Sullivan, Orange, and Rockland Counties. These five counties comprise what is called "Zone 9" in New York State.
About the NYSSMA All-State Ensembles:
All-State music ensembles are open only to high school juniors and seniors. Students are selected for the All-State band, orchestra, and chorus based on their NYSSMA Solo adjudication score from the previous year. The audition must be declared an “All-State” audition before the NYSSMA festival. Only students who receive 99% or 100% on the audition are considered for All-State. In some years, not even a score of 100% guaranteed selection into All-State! This audition process is the most competitive - students are competing with students across the entire state. Students who audition for this conference are of the highest caliber.
About the All-Eastern Division Honor Ensembles:
The All-Eastern Honors Ensembles, organized by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Eastern Division, bring together top high school musicians from the northeastern United States for collaborative performances. The students must be in 11th or 12th grade during the academic year of the event, and have been selected to perform in their state’s All-State festival. The All-Eastern Division Honors Ensembles are part of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Eastern Division, which includes the following 11 states: Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. These states collaborate to form the Eastern Division, and the All-Eastern Honors Ensembles draw the top student musicians from this region for this prestigious event and culminating performances. This event is held biennially, with the most recent opportunity for participation occurring in the 2022-2023 cycle. Manny Tejeda (Class of ‘23) was the last student to be selected for inclusion in the festival.
ATTENTION: Are your scholars or colleagues doing something great? Please contact the district Communications Team at communications@necsd.net. We’d love to visit your class or event and/or post your pictures and recap to highlight the amazing accomplishments throughout our district!
