Half Hollow Hills Musicians Receive Honors

Half Hollow Hills Central School District is proud to announce that 49 students representing High School East and High School West were selected for county, state and national music honors. All 49 students were chosen to participate in the 2017 NYSCAME All-County music festival, and 15 of those 49 were picked to play at the NYSSMA All-State conference. An additional two students of the 49 were also chosen to perform in the NAfME All-National Honor Ensemble.

“We are so proud of these talented young musicians,” said Dr. Darlene Lilla, director of fine arts at Half Hollow Hills. “It is an honor that Half Hollow Hills has been so well represented at the county, state and national level.”

Hills West’s Noah Marcus and Hills East’s George Misthos performed at the NAfME All-National Honor Ensemble held at Disney’s Coronado Springs resort Walt Disney World in Florida, from November 26-29, 2017. The NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles represent the top performing high school musicians in the United States.

Students chosen for All-County honors who performed at the NYSCAME festival were High School East’s DeannaJames Bunce, Haley Califano, Casey Chung, Daniel Connell, Andrew Dircks, Nicoletta Gasparis, Johnathan Goldblatt, Casey Goodman, Lauren Kornfeld, Stephanie Leibowitz, Salvatore Lupo, Joseph Malone, Tawnya Phipps, Anish Pisipati, Faith Quashie, Rachel Sacher, Alyssa Schmidt, Donna Zarrabi and Janna Zilkha, and High School West’s Jordan Chambers, Jessica Felber, Brigitte Gibbs, Jenna Greenberg, Ilana Grossman, William Jennings, Judy Kim, Ankit Nagpal, Isabella Negron, Joyce Pluviose, Tiffany Rhodes, Eric Stern and Gabriel Zornberg. In order to be selected for NYSCAME, juniors and seniors must score among the top musicians in the county. They performed at Hauppauge High School on November 17th.

Students who were at NYSCAME and were also selected for All-State honors by NYSSMA are High School West’s Crystal Kang, Madison Leifer, Joyce Pluviose, Christine Seo and Andrew Sim, and High School East’s Francis Altamirano, Yaas Azmoudeh, Rinni Bhansali, Angela Bracco, Collin Cook, Connor Cook, Hannah Gerber, Marley Jacobson, Marco Tomassi and Michael Valdes. These students scored among the top musicians in the state and performed at NYSSMA’s 82nd annual conference in Rochester, NY, from November 30th to December 3rd.

High School East’s Andrew Dircks was also one of only 11 students in New York to be invited to perform in the prestigious NYSSMA All-State Piano Showcase.

“I would also like to thank these students’ teachers, from elementary to their current band, orchestra and chorus teachers, who have supported and inspired their musicianship,” added Lilla. “And of course, kudos to the parents who support our music program and their children’s love of music.”

An education-oriented community with high academic expectations, the Half Hollow Hills Central School District is located in a residential area of 50,000 people in the central part of Long Island, approximately 40 miles from New York City. Providing for the education of more than 8,000 students, the school district has five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools. Half Hollow Hills High Schools are fully accredited by the New York State Department of Education and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. The District is committed to providing students opportunities to excel in academics, athletics, and the arts.