Benjamin Logan High School senior Josephine Davis has practiced with dedication to participate in music ensembles, and now the harpist has the honor of joining the “best of the best” for the National Association for Music Education’s 2020 All-National Symphony Orchestra Virtual Event.
The first-ever All-National Honor Ensembles virtual event has included several rehearsals with the 2020 ANHE Conductors and workshops with renowned clinicians.
Each ensemble has created a final, recorded performance that will premiere online this week during the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) Music In Our Schools Month. The official performance time for the All-National Orchestra is 7 p.m. Thursday, March 4.
After March 4, the performances can be found on NAfME’s YouTube channel.
A daughter of Jamie and Jennifer Davis of Bellefontaine, Josephine is planning to pursue a degree in music performance this fall and has already been admitted into the music programs at both The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.
She performs with the Benjamin Logan High School concert band, jazz band, marching band, jazz combo, and musical orchestra. She is a harpist with the Dayton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and studies harp privately with Jeanne Norton.
The All-National Honor Ensembles performers represent collaboration and creativity in its highest musical form, and includes concert band, symphony orchestra, mixed choir, jazz ensemble, guitar ensemble, and modern band (now in its second year).
Students were selected through an audition process. The concert band and symphony orchestra will each have 120 instrumentalists each, the jazz ensemble 13 instrumentalists, the mixed choir 241 vocalists, the guitar ensemble 45 instrumentalists, and the modern band 13 performers.
Selected students have rehearsed a challenging repertoire in preparation for performing under the direction of six prominent conductors in the United States: Frances Fonza (Mixed Choir); Nobuyoshi Yasuda (Symphony Orchestra); Rodney Dorsey (Concert Band); Todd Stoll with Terell Stafford (Jazz Ensemble); Chuck Hulihan (Guitar Ensemble); and Tony Sauza (Modern Band). All conductors have received top honors in their field and have spent several days rehearsing with students before the concert.