Two students, 14-year-old 8th grader Madeline Knowles and high school freshman Ben Moniz, 15-years-old, will be making their debut in the MMEA Southeastern District Junior Music Festival on March 11th and 12th. Miss Knowles will be playing the clarinet. Mr. Moniz will be playing the trumpet.
For 17-year-old Haley Bedard, who plays the flute, this is the third consecutive year she has been selected. Ms. Bedard, a high school junior, will perform in the Senior Music Festival on April 8th and 9th.
Approximately 180 school districts in Southeastern Massachusetts send their best musicians to audition for these festivals and only those with the best audition scores are chosen to participate.
“We’re extremely proud of these students,” said GLCPS music director Don Richard. “They have worked very hard for this. Hard work is one of the core values we encourage at GLCPS.”
Mr. Richard also pointed out the significance of these invitations for the school’s music program. “Our music program is only eight years old which is very young compared to music programs in the majority of schools in our area. It makes me extremely happy to have students invited to these invitation-only festivals for the past three years.”
GLCPS is a tuition-free public charter school that serves New Bedford students in grades 5-12. GLCPS offers a personalized, challenging, college preparatory learning environment in which students are encouraged to realize their full potential, both academically and personally. For more information, visit: www.glcps.org.