Published on March 1, 2024
We want to give a huge congratulations to Jonah Ahlers, Alexander Fair, and Jacob Soslow for continuing to advance in PMEA’s Music Festival Competition.
Jonah (Flute), Alex (Tuba), and Jacob (Percussion) have earned seats in the All-State Band and Wind Ensemble that will be held on April 17-20th in Erie, PA.
Alex will participate in the Concert Band under the direction of Alfred Watkins. Mr. Watkins is a leader in the music education field as he is the retired band director of Lassiter High School in Georgia and the founder of the Cobb County Wind Symphony.
Jonah and Jacob will be participating in the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Andrea Strauss. Dr. Stauss is also a leader in the music education field and currently serves as the director of the Tara Winds, an award-winning band in Georgia.
The festival will conclude with performances on Saturday, April 20th at the Warner Theatre in Erie.
In addition to Jonah participating in the Wind Ensemble, he has also secured his place in the PMEA Central Region Orchestra Festival. For this festival, he will perform on both the flute and piccolo. This festival will be held on March 21-23rd at Central York High School. The festival’s guest conductor is Ms. Hannah Schendel, who has won conducting prizes in The American Prize Competition (2021) and was selected by Diane Wittry to be a Conducting Fellow with the Allentown Symphony during the 2018/2019 season.
The festival will conclude with performances on Saturday, March 23rd at Central York High School.
Good luck to these students as they travel and participate in these high-level festivals!