Huntington Seniors Presented with Music Awards
Thomas Monks is this year’s recipient of the $1,000 Linda Shoemaker Blue Devil Scholarship as the senior “who best exemplifies the benefits of membership in the band on his personal growth during high school.” The honor was presented during the senior academic awards night held earlier this month in the Huntington High School auditorium.
Mr. Monks, who is headed to Villanova University in the fall, also garnered a separate $300 New York State Field Band Conference Award, for his sterling work with the Blue Devil marching band.
Seniors walked away with 18 different music medals, certificates, plaques, pins and financial scholarships after distinguishing themselves over the past four years.
Kieran McCarthy Fell and Evan McCann were the recipients of the Huntington High School Award for Overall Contributions to Music. Ms. McCarthy Fell, who will attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the fall, also captured the Patrick Gilmore Band Award for her musicianship and dedication to the band program. It was first introduced in 1994 to honor the legendary 19th century bandmaster.
Erin McGoldrick, a Gettysburg College bound senior was presented with the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for being an outstanding instrumentalist as demonstrated through superior musicianship, character and individual creativity.
Mr. McCann, who is headed to The Crane School of Music at SUNY College at Potsdam, also took home the John Philip Sousa Award, which was created in 1955 and honors the top student in the high school band. The award has become the pinnacle of achievement for band students. It was developed with the cooperation of Helen Sousa Albert and Priscilla Sousa, daughters of the famous composer and bandmaster. The senior was also the recipient of the Tri-M Music Leadership Award.
SUNY College at Geneseo bound Lena Freed and Max Smoller, who will be attending the University of Delaware, were presented with American Legion Music Award medals for having “contributed the most in the field of music.” Mr. Smoller also earned the Woody Herman Jazz Award.
Caitlin Etri (Cornell University), Colleen Teubner (George Washington University), Daniel Smith (University of Maryland at College Park), Dayna Reyes (University of Arizona) and Catherine Tacopina (SUNY College at New Paltz) were given Blue Devil Band Service Award certificates.
The Suffolk County Music Educators Association presented Ms. Freed with a $100 scholarship after she was selected as an “outstanding senior” by music department members. Ms. Freed also earned the James Doty Memorial Award, which is presented annually to a member of the high school orchestra who has demonstrated devoted service over three years. It also carries a $100 stipend.
The Jane Sullivan Award for the best all-around choir student in the graduating class went to Ms. Reyes. It carries a stipend of $100. Taylor Fritts, who is headed to the University of Delaware, won the Evelyn Daniels Memorial Scholarship. The $100 award is presented to an outstanding member of the orchestra who has excelled as a performer and exhibited dedicated service to the orchestra.
Morgan Brown (SUNY Buffalo), Alyssa Crawley (SUNY College at New Paltz), Tatiana DiPaola (Boston University) and Elizabeth DeMaio (Nassau Community College) won $200 scholarships given by the Orchestra Parents’ Association, for their dedication and service.
Johanna Clifford, who will soon head off to Case Western Reserve University, was presented with the National School Marching Band Award. Ariel Wertheim, who will be spending a “gap year” in Israel before beginning studies at Dartmouth College in the fall of 2011, was the recipient of the Dorothea Waddell Award, which includes a $100 stipend.
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