Aly Hoyt, with either a flugelhorn (in hand) or trumpet, is the first Windham-Ashland-Jewett student to perform with the All-State Symphonic Band at prestigious Kodak Hall in the Eastman Theater in Rochester.
By Michael Ryan
WINDHAM - She was merely one sound amid a hundred and more sounds, indistinguishable in those moments, a perfect place for Aly Hoyt.
Hoyt is a senior at Windham-Ashland-Jewett school, leaving the mountains behind, earlier this month, to be part of the All-State Symphonic Band.
They performed at the New York State School Music Association’s Annual Winter Conference in Rochester, a rare privilege for any high school kid.
Hoyt is the rarest of the rare, becoming the first WAJ student to be selected for the ensemble, playing flugelhorn and trumpet on three classical music pieces; the 'Downey Overture,” “Give Us This Day” and “Nitrous.”
“It was an honor to be chosen and a cool experience,” says Hoyt in a bit of an understatement, needing to go through an intensive, potentially ego-blasting selection process.
WAJ band and music theory teacher Leslie Beauregard, in a press release, stated, “a student’s eligibility is dependent upon their scores at the spring NYSSMA Solo Festival.
“Adjudicators assign a score and comments on the applicant’s prepared level six solo, major scales from memory and sight reading.
“Students who audition for a spot in the All-State Ensembles must achieve extremely high scores to be considered.
“This year over 2,400 vocal and instrumental students received a score of 98 or higher and were recommended to the All-State selection committee.
“By way of calculated and complex comparisons and considerations, the committee further narrowed the field from the initial 2,400 applicants to the top 600 student performers in New York State to form the most elite and prestigious groups to perform at the annual Winter Conference.
“For the selected students,” Beauregard stated,” the conference is an intense four-day experience that fully immerses them in life of an ensemble performer.
“They rehearse with a renowned guest conductor for roughly eight hours each day to ensure they are able, by the end of the festival, to fully blend as an ensemble to accomplish the most outstanding performance of their high school careers.
“Rest assured, their time together is not all work and no play – time and activities were built-in for the students to socialize and interact with one another outside of the rehearsal space.”
Hoyt’s performance encompassed “three collegiate level pieces. One of the pieces incorporated a grand piano and harp, two instruments that are rarely featured in high school ensembles,” Beauregard stated.
“If you closed your eyes during the performance, you’d hear in the music, the knowledge and maturity of seasoned professionals, when in actuality, the individuals on the stage were high schoolers.
“It was such a beautiful result of their hard work,” Beauregard stated, a sentiment shared by Hoyt who has applied to, and auditioned for, admission to the Syracuse University. Music Industry program.
The three performed pieces “were very challenging which was good,” says Hoyt, the daughter of WAJ math teacher Nathan Hoyt and Hunter-Tannersville music instructor Shannon Sambrook.
“Each one was different and difficult. It was good to work through them with such amazing musicians,” says Hoyt, finding out she surely belonged.
All-State is not her first gig. Classical music is her favorite genre but she too loves jazz, regularly playing with the 20-piece, Empire State Youth Orchestra jazz band in Albany.
“My mom drives me. She gets all her shopping done,” Hoyt says. “Mrs. Beauregard is the best. She has encouraged me through the years to always pursue anything I want musically. I love her so much.”
Hoyt performed with the All-County group, in the fall, and is similarly adept at the three R’s, literally skipping a grade to graduate a year early, having already accumulated nearly a semester’s worth of college credits.
While feeling most cozy with sheet music in front of her, Aly is venturing into improvisation, saying, “I was always terrified of it but one day just decided I should go for it.
“It definitely took some growth but I’m getting comfortable with it,” Aly says, clearly feeling at home with vocal performance, as well, landing the lead role of Dorothy in the upcoming WAJ staging of “Wizard of Oz.”
Seldom-if-ever in the pits, she has eagerly been down in the orchestral pit the past two years for the summer Broadway Camp at Proctors Theater.
Not necessarily dreaming of motherhood at this point in her life, Aly instead envisions a music-based career in a Big City, perhaps as a record label producer or maybe in management.
She chose trumpet in 2nd grade, flowing naturally into flugelhorn, working with Capital district band instructor John Fatuzzo for the past decade.
Even with all that devotion, Aly says, “I was really surprised when I got in” to All-State, receiving a letter by snail mail in September, noting, “I didn’t believe it right away,” now melding into an ever-expanding repertoire.
“Aly thrives in all disciplines of music (instrumental, vocal and theater) and plays with the same amount of love for the craft no matter how simple or complex the music is,” Beauregard stated.
“The WAJ Board of Education, Administration, Teachers, Students and Community could not be more proud of the amazing honor that was bestowed upon one of “our own.”
“Thank you to everyone who played a role in supporting Aly through this process – it truly has been a once in a lifetime experience.”
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