Virtually Outstanding: Overlake Musicians Honored by Educators

Four Overlake string orchestra members and one Overlake choir member were honored this past week by the Washington Music Educators association. 

And with the pandemic, singers and musicians had to impress the judges from their own homes. "The students submitted audition recordings through their orchestra or choir teacher, and WMEA (Washington Music Educators Association) requires that the ensemble teacher submit the recordings, so I knew we had some outstanding performances," says Music Teacher Mark Lotz.

Students were required to submit auditions that were recorded live with no editing. However, applicants had unlimited attempts with all regular exercises by simply deleting a recorded video track and starting over. Singers had the added pressure of only two tries, and if a singer chose to record a second time the first attempt was erased.

Chamber Choir member Angela L. ('22) was selected as “First Alto for All-Northwest Mixed Choir. "I had to sing in a four-part chorale against a recording with the other parts. This was probably the most difficult part of the audition because my part was complex, and I had to hold it together against other voices that were as strong as mine," explains Angela who credits choir teacher Erin Gabriel with the unusual process.  "Lastly, there was a sight-singing exercise, where I was given 30 seconds to look over a short piece of music that I then had one try to sing correctly. After I submitted all that, the judges listened to the recordings to determine who was selected for the choir."

In this virtual year, Lotz's young string musicians really shined. String Orchestra member Kyuhong L. ('23) was selected to the cello section of the All-NW Orchestra. Eddie Y. ('24), Nicole C. ('23), and Anika M. ('23)  were selected to the violin section of the All-State Orchestra.

Congratulations to all our Overlake musicians who continue to overcome the challenges of performing apart and with virtual audiences.