USN Students in All-State Chorus, Orchestra

by Judy Yeaworth, choral director

Many USN students are outstanding musicians, and Tennessee offers a variety of opportunities for them to pursue their interests on a larger scale.
Four singers spent April 8-11 in Memphis, participating in the Tennessee All-State choirs: Elise Blackburn, Sue Choi, Tom Shaw, and Anwen Wilkerson. The audition process was tiered and highly competitive, and the resulting ensembles were of superb quality.

These singers were joined by 
Jessie Baskauf for the Mid-State Choral Festival in November here in Nashville, featuring Middle Tennessee's finest high school singers.  Anwen Wilkerson reflects, "All-State is a great experience where singers can work with accomplished directors and bring new skills and tips back to their school choir.  My favorite has been getting to hear the other choirs sing at the concert at the end."
 
Jessie, along with Elijah Hong, also qualified for this year's Mid-State Honor Orchestra. The two mid-state string players spent a productive three days in Murfreesboro working on diverse symphonic repertoire from Mozart to Elgar to the Argentinian tango composer, Piazzolla. 

Jessie's 11-12 orchestra was conducted by Nashville Symphony's own assistant conductor, Vinay Parameswaran. The 9-10 group got to work with Joe Lee, renowned clinician conductor of the Murfreesboro and Huntsville symphonies. Both students reported having intense and fulfilling days of music and friend-making. "Just being able to play and learn music with so many other driven students was quite a wonderful experience," Elijah reported. "I hope to participate in both Mid and All-State next year."
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USN Mission: 
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.