On April 27, some of Gorham’s elementary and middle school music students were offered an amazing opportunity to work with two nationally renowned conductors and some of the top singers from Maine.
The Maine American Choral Directors Association Middle and Elementary School All State Festival took place at Gorham High School (GHS) this year with over 200 students from 30 schools across the state participating.
Henry Leck, prolific choral composer and director of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir came to conduct the Elementary School All-State Chorus and the esteemed Dr. Jessica Napoles, from the University of North Texas, conducted the Middle School Chorus.
Photo credits Camille SaucierTwenty-two Gorham students had the opportunity to work with nationally renowned conductors at The Maine American Choral Directors Association Middle and Elementary School All State Festival. Pictured (top) is Dr. Jessica Napoles working with the middle school All-State Chorus and Henry Leck working with the elementary school All-State Chorus.
Gorham had eight middle school students participating in the choirs: Emelia Bailey, Alex Robbins, Dylan Bauer, Madeline Downey, Whitney Randall, Eden Johnson, Abby Fiore, and Madeleine LaPierre.
The elementary schools sent 14 students: Lily Beardsley, Taylor Tenuta, Dalton Cole, Sydney Nauman, Lily White, Olivia Kennedy, Elsie Moreno, Brodie Berlinger, Charlotte Wallace, Vincent Kane, Lorisse Matta, Lola Vance, Izzy Phinney, and Zachary Bourgoin.
This was the first time the festival was hosted at GHS and it would not have come together without the help of Dr. Nicolas Dosman and the USM music education students as well as Gorham’s amazing music parents and community.
It was a wonderful day of creating fun, top-notch music and a once-in- a-lifetime experience to work with incredible conductors and Maine’s talented young singers.