A trio of Newberg middle school students recently got the opportunity to brush shoulders with the state’s best musicians.
Adelaide Shaw, Benjamin Tanner and Cedar Zondervan earned their way onto the Middle School All-State band or orchestra due to their hard work and tenacity.
“All three students prepared audition music over the summer of 2023, submitted recordings in the fall and were awarded a position in their respective ensembles,” an email distributed by the band and orchestra directors at Mountain View and Chehalem Valley middle schools said. “The All-State Band and Orchestra invites roughly 120 of the best middle school band and orchestra musicians in the entire state of Oregon.”
Shaw is a member of the seventh-grade orchestra at MVMS, while Tanner is part of the school’s seventh-grade band. Zondervan is a member of the eighth-grade band at CVMS.
The three attended the 2024 Oregon Music Education Association Conference in Eugene on Jan. 12. They joined other musical students from across the state and “gained a great deal from the experience, including an intensive musical experience with other gifted, like-minded students,” the email said.