A cappella choir prepares for Symphony Hall performance
By Angela Greiner Community Reporter

Marlborough - For many aspiring musicians, the dream of performing at world-renowned concert halls like Symphony Hall in Boston often gets them through the sometimes long and arduous task of practicing. For members of the Marlborough High School A Cappella Choir directed by Jamie Teot, this dream is less than a month away. The choir is one of an elite group of musical ensembles invited to perform Saturday May 3 at 9:50 a.m. at Symphony Hall in Boston because of their recent success April 4 at a state music festival.

The a cappella choir, which received a gold medal, was one of five groups from Marlborough schools that received a medal of distinction during the district's annual participation in the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) festival.

The goal of the MICCA festival is to give students an opportunity to enhance their study of music through performing. During the festival, each of the student groups perform for a panel of three judges and are evaluated during the performance on a recording, which is later given to the directors.

Music Coordinator Jonathan Rosenthal explained that the standard for the judges' evaluation at the festival are set very high, often requiring musicians to perform from a set musical repertoire.

"The judges are the very best, from college professors to musicians across the state," Rosenthal said.

The festival has a unique edge: competing with other schools is taken out of the equation and groups are rated through the awarding of points for elements of their performance. The value of this particular approach, Rosenthal said, is that it offers students an opportunity to perform and be evaluated in a non-competitive setting.

Five Marlborough school groups received awards at the MICCA festival; in addition to the a cappella choir's gold, the wind ensemble, directed by Gary Piazza, received a silver medal; the string ensemble, directed by Rosenthal, received a bronze medal; the Marlborough Middle School Band, directed by Simon Harding, received a bronze medal; and the jazz ensemble, also under the direction of Piazza, received a silver medal.

"I am equally proud of all the groups," Rosenthal said.

The School Committee and school administrators echoed Rosenthal's praise of the groups and the city's music program during the February 8 School Committee meeting.

"The success of these students is attributed to a system-wide start-to-finish comprehensive music program," Rosenthal said. "The district believes music and the arts is a core part of the curriculum."

As students progress through elementary school in Marlborough, they are exposed to basic music theory, recorders and then other instruments, he explained. The teachers, a team of skilled musicians, also contribute to the students' success.

"The philosophy of the teachers is that we have a job to teach the students to be the best musicians, and that might mean rehearsing beyond school hours," Rosenthal said.

And rehearse is what the gold-medal students and teachers will be doing in preparation for the upcoming performance at Symphony Hall.