Two CHS students headed to All-State festival

Two young vocalists from Canton High School are headed to Boston’s prestigious Symphony Hall. Tenor Rosie Grady and Bass Bradley Perlman were selected from students across the state and earned a coveted spot at the 70th annual All State music festival, which will be held on March 23. The festival is sponsored by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association.

Bradley Perlman and Rosie Grady

Grady prepared the tenor section of the piece “Music, When Soft Voices Die,” which is a musical adaptation of a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

“I found out that I got into the festival in the middle of class, and struggled to contain my excitement,” said Grady. “I’m feeling a bit nervous, but mostly excited, and am proud to be representing Canton at such an important event.”

Grady said they are also looking forward to meeting students from other schools and spending time with a community of fellow music lovers.

Perlman said even the audition process was exciting. “While it was certainly challenging and intimidating to learn the audition piece, with the help of the CHS Performing Arts Department, particularly Ms. Anne Tripp Miller, I felt more than prepared,” he said. “Upon learning of my results, I was shocked, and felt extremely validated about the time I’ve invested and skills I’ve learned throughout my time in chorus.”

The students from across the state will come together at Mechanics in Hall in Worcester the night before the festival.

“I was thrilled to learn that our performance will be at Symphony Hall and cannot wait to take the stage among my elite peers,” said Perlman. “I express all my gratitude to the Canton Performing Arts Department for continuing to encourage and support me throughout my musical endeavors. It’s truly changed my life!”

“We are so proud of Rosie and Bradley for their selection to join the All-State Chorus,” said Catherine Eckersley, Canton Public Schools’ PreK-12 performing arts coordinator. “Students who score high enough in the district competition are selected to audition for All-State. Those selected from those auditions earn their spot at Symphony Hall. Rosie and Bradley’s hard work has truly paid off as they prepared audition pieces and worked hard to improve their sight reading skills in preparation for auditions.”

Only five other Canton students had been accepted to the All-State Music Festival prior to this year.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Feb 23 2024. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.