Two S.S. Seward Institute juniors are making everyone proud by earning the opportunity to perform at the Orange County Music Educators Association’s All-County Festival on Jan. 24 and 25.
Sophia LaBelle will represent the school in the High School All-County Chorus, while Alexander Vargas will play in the All-County Band.
LaBelle is thankful for her music teacher Mark Visconti and private music coach Kathryn Tate for their support in preparing her for the festival. She considers performing at All-County a privilege. She explained what interests her about music.
“I have been involved in music and singing for as long as I can remember,” LaBelle explained. “Music can translate a story, captivating feelings like nothing else can.”
For Vargas, getting to perform at the festival is a true honor and he hopes to perform to the best of his abilities and show off what Seward’s band program can do. He offered this advice to students interested in competing next school year.
“My advice is to most importantly practice, but also just have fun and enjoy what you’re doing,” Vargas said. “I feel proud looking at this achievement that I have accomplished.”
Visconti is immensely proud of the juniors, but is happy to see any student make it into All-County, especially since Seward competes with much larger schools and music programs.
“I always use the analogy that our soccer team doesn’t play a school like Monroe Woodbury, yet our musicians compete with their students,” Visconti said. “So for us, this is quite an accomplishment; it is the result of hard work, drive, and practice.”
The preparation is intense and concentrated, but Visconti finds it helps the selected students grow in ways that cannot be taught in the classroom.
“The festival itself is always a great experience,” Visconti said. “Our students get to perform challenging work, with the most talented students in the county.”