Queensbury High School seniors Patrick Eppedico-Cirillo and Wallace Loonan have been selected as members of 2024 NYSSMA Conference All-State ensembles.
Both Patrick and Wallace will be traveling to Rochester in December to represent Queensbury at the NYSSMA conference, where Patrick will play the snare drum in the Wind Ensemble and Wallace will sing as a bass in the Mixed Choir. The experience culminates in performances of the finest student musicians in New York State at the prestigious Eastman Theater.
In addition, QHS junior Julia Ross (violin) and senior Antonio Angelucci (double bass) were chosen as NYSSMA Conference All-State alternates.
This is Patrick’s second time going to NYSSMA Conference All-State. He was in the 2023 Conference All state Symphony orchestra. Patrick has been a member of the Queensbury Band Program for eight years. He plays in the Queensbury High School Concert Band under the direction of his father, James Cirillo, and is also a member of the QHS Jazz Band and Pep Band as well as the Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers. His performance resume includes six years of All-County Band Festivals and the 2022 and 2023 Area-All State Symphonic Orchestra.
Wallace is a member of QHS Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers in addition to being a member of the QHS Concert Band. Wallace has performed several NYSSMA voice solos.
The all-state experience begins with a music educator, a student and an accompanist spending countless hours preparing a NYSSMA Level 6 solo, which must be selected from repertoire lists in the current manual. They perform for an all-state adjudicator who evaluates their performance and provides a score. In most cases, students must receive a perfect score of 100 to be considered.
“I congratulate these exceptional Queensbury High School musicians for this tremendous accomplishment!” said Gregory Verheyn, chairperson of the Music Department at Queensbury Union Free School District. “We are so proud of these musicians for being model students, pursuing their dreams and representing the entire Queensbury community.”