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Middletown board meeting spotlights student musicians and growing district music programs
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Summary
At its April meeting the Middletown City School District highlighted student musicians with performances and administrators described program scale — the district reported hundreds of student participants across band, orchestra and chorus and noted recent festival recognitions.
The Middletown City School District opened its April board meeting with a Spotlight on Excellence featuring student musicians from elementary through high school. Amanda Mita, the district’s music department chair, introduced a sequence of performances and described the district’s ensemble participation and recent festival results.
Students featured included fifth-grader Oliver Nada (cello), Monhagen Middle School band member Daniel Salazar (trumpet), seniors Marcus Elazar and Angel Munoz representing the high school jazz program, vocal soloist Gianna Lebron and violist Matthew McKay. Mita told the board the district supported more than 530 musicians at recent NYSSMA solo and small-ensemble festivals, has “over 500” students in band, “over 740” in orchestra and “over 600” in chorus, and fields expanding modern-ensemble and mariachi offerings.
Mita said the music program also launched a music-industry club focused on careers outside of performance; she described the program as “a pretty diverse offering” and thanked teachers, families and the broader community for their support. Board members and the audience responded with visible appreciation for students’ performances.
The showcase was presented as a community event and a preview of the district’s upcoming Experience Our Programs showcase on May 8, which district staff said will offer interpreters and no-cost attendance for community members.
