Congratulations to QVHS Junior Rachael Finke, who was selected as a violinist to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Virtual All-State Orchestra. This year, the selection process for PMEA music ensemble festivals was very rigorous as the festivals, and the auditions for selection to festivals took place virtually.
Rachael was first chosen for the District Orchestra this past December after having to submit a recorded audition. Despite the high level of local competition, she placed 2nd out of 20 qualifying violins at the District level, which earned her the opportunity to audition directly for All-State. Her audition for All-State earned her a spot in the All-State violin section, placing 20th out of 52 selected students representing the best student violinists across all public and private high schools in Pennsylvania.
Rachel completed virtual rehearsals for the orchestra and attended parts of the PMEA Virtual Conference in mid-April, and submitted recordings that will be used to create a virtual orchestra performance.
"The festival consisted of a few days of Zoom rehearsals with Steven Amundson, who conducts the St. Olaf Orchestra, as well as a keynote lecture by Byron Stripling, Principal Pops Conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra," explains Finke.
QVHS Orchestra Director Mr. Cory Neville sponsored Rachael's candidacy and said, "Rachael is an outstanding student and musician of the highest caliber. This year's festival was extremely competitive—putting together a virtual orchestra from a compilation of individual performances requires each musician to play with a level of precision that is challenging even for experienced professionals. Only the most advanced student musicians would succeed in rising to the top under this year's circumstances, and Rachael is among them. We are proud of how well she has represented herself, her family, and the QV community through this process."
The All-State Orchestra is being led this year by conductor Steven Amundson. He has been the head of the orchestra program at St. Olaf College for 40 years and being a prolific and well-known composer and guest conductor throughout the United States and Europe.
"It is an incredible opportunity for advanced high school musicians to get to work with a professional conductor, and PMEA was very fortunate to have a leader with Dr. Amundson's depth of experience and skill guiding the students and the organization through this year's unique experience," adds Neville.
In addition to this honor, Rachel says she looks forward to continuing to share her talents with the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra, in which she plays the violin.