Throughout the school year, the NVOT Music Department fulfilled many great achievements, and as the school year is coming to a close, they haven’t stopped. 

On Wednesday, April 24 the orchestra went to the North Jersey School Music Association (NJSMA) Region Orchestra Festival. They were given the opportunity to work with Helen Cha-Pyo, the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts. At the festival, the ensemble won a gold rating with their performance.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Over the weekend of April 26, all of the music department classes, including the band and choir, went to Philadelphia to perform in the Heritage Music Festival. Concert Band and The Valley Voices choir won Gold ratings. Band Junior, Luca Evangelista, and Choir Senior, Sophia Ashbahian, earned Maestro Awards for their solo performances. Their solos were nominated by judges. The choir also won the Adjudicator Award from. Finally, the department as a whole won the Sweepstakes Award; they had the top combined choral and instrumental scores out of all the schools.

On Sunday, April 28, the Wind Ensemble performed at The College of New Jersey, in the annual New Jersey State Band Gala. The gala hosts the top 12 ranked concert bands in North Jersey to showcase what they worked on over the school year. Junior Luca Evangelista and member of the wind ensemble said, “The most rewarding part was being able to play the pieces we’ve been working on with celebration in mind”.

To finish up their phenomenal two weeks of performances, NVOT’s Tri-M, or music honor society, had a night of performances on Thursday, May 2. The members of the honor society displayed their skills with various performances such as vocal ensembles, jazz groups, and whole conducted bands. Junior, Jessie Cho said, “The best part of Tri-M is the community, everyone helps each other out”. During the night, they held a raffle with various baskets to raise money for the charity Hungry For Music, a charity that supports music education. 

The 2023-2024 school year was very successful for the music department in every aspect, from the band ensembles to the choirs, everyone went above and beyond.  With such a fantastic way to wrap up the school year, next year is looking bright for the music department