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Area students selected to participate in All-State Orchestra

Joy Fowler

The Georgia Music Educators Association has released the names of students named to the 2022 All-State Orchestra. 

The three-day performance clinic will occur in conjunction with the All-State Band event, to be held Thursday, March 3, through Saturday, March 5, at The Classic Center in Athens. Top musical students from orchestra programs throughout the state will rehearse with renowned conductors in their respective groups and present a cumulative concert Saturday, March 5. 

“Participating in the Georgia Music Educators Association’s All-State Orchestra is one of the top honors a high school musician can achieve in the state of Georgia,” said David Metrio, orchestra director at North Gwinnett High School. 

The rigorous audition process for orchestra students only allows for a fraction of those who audition to be selected. The selection process is impartial to school size as judges score students on their musical proficiency, blind to their backgrounds or allegiances. Of course, the larger the program, the higher the chance for a larger number of students to be selected — if, of course, the quality of musical education those students receive is on par with statewide standards. That certainly was the case for North Gwinnett High School, which had 21 students selected, including two chosen for first chair, as well as eight chosen to be alternates.

“It is a big deal to even have one student from a program earn a spot, but to have the quantity we have to make it here in the North Gwinnett High School Orchestra is proof of the value our community places on music education,” Metrio said. “I am so proud of our students who have made it and am excited for them to have this amazing musical experience.”

Lanier Middle School eighth grader Celina Park plays the viola. Her selection into the 2022 All-State Orchestra marks her third year as an All-State violist, meaning she’s made the cut every time she’s auditioned thus far. It is a remarkable feat to be selected annually in all three years of middle school and is even rarer to be a six-year All-State member in any area. The rarity of the achievement of being “a six year” prompted a scholarship process through GMEA for those students who’ve made All-State in one area all six years of eligibility from sixth through 12th grades. With these pivotal first three years of eligibility successfully under her belt, Park is well on her way — halfway to membership in that most prestigious group of elite musicians. 

For the first year in the school system’s history, Buford will be represented at the All-State Orchestra event. Three Buford Middle School band students were selected for this prestigious group, despite the absence of an orchestra program at the school.

BMS band director Kathy Mason recognized the abilities of four of her students who are skilled string instrumentalists and allowed them to play their violins with the band this year, offering musical instruction and finding ways to incorporate their talents into the curriculum.

When it came time for the All-State Orchestra auditions, Mason signed up her students and allowed all four to audition. Three of the four, one of whom is a sixth grader, made it through to the second audition and were selected to the elite group. Whereas schools with orchestra programs throughout the state may not have had even one of their students to make All-State, BMS doesn’t even have a program, and yet had three out of four make it. 

“I congratulate these students for this tremendous achievement,” said Buford City Schools Fine Arts Coordinator Dr. Chris Fowler. “This is a great testimony to Mrs. Mason’s classroom instruction, the private instruction these students are receiving outside of the school day and their dedication to their art. I look forward to initiating an orchestra program in our school system as well when the time is right.”

GMEA sponsors annual events including their In-Service Conference for Georgia’s music educators and music educators-in-training, All-State Band, All-State Chorus, Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus, Sixth Grade Statewide Honor Chorus and the All-State Orchestra. 

From Buford Middle School

Band director: Kathy Mason

From Lanier High School

Director: Laura Wood

From Lanier Middle School

Director: Megan Brown

From Mill Creek High School

Director: Tori Wilson

From North Gwinnett High School

Alternates

Director: David Metrio 

From North Gwinnett Middle School

Sixth grade

Seventh grade

Eighth grade

Alternates

Director: Amy Clement

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