2022 Awards
Garden City Friends of Music
High School
Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Music
Avery Ross
Avery has been in music since she could talk. She’s played violin, clarinet, saxophone, and loudly sings wherever she goes. She loves music with her whole being. It gets her excited to start the day and helps her fall asleep at night. Singing especially gave her comfort like no other. Avery was a member of Vocal jazz for 3 years, MYO member for 3 years and was a part of All-County for 5 years.
She has performed at many venues including City Field, Jazz at Lincoln Center and at Carnegie Hall. She is beyond excited to continue her singing career at Tulane University.
Jenny Zhang
Outstanding Achievement in Band
Jenny was first introduced to music in kindergarten, when she began learning to play the piano. Later, she completed piano NYSSMA up to level 6 before focusing primarily on flute. She participated in the Stewart School and middle school bands in addition to playing piano in the Late Night Jazz Band. She has also been selected into All County Bands and Orchestras every year since fifth grade. In addition to the flute, she picked up piccolo in eighth grade. In high school, she had been a part of the Wind Ensemble since freshman year and she went on to be accepted into the All-State Orchestra for piccolo while being simultaneously selected as an alternate flute for the All-State Band. She was also selected as the sole piccolo player in the NAfME All-National Band. On a weekly basis, she has participated in the Mannes School of Music Prep Senior Program since eleventh grade and was a part of the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra since sixth grade, having been accepted into their top orchestra (the Principal Orchestra) as a junior.
Outstanding Achievement in Orchestra
Aidan Wu
Aidan started the violin at the age of four and played in the orchestra since third grade. Currently, Aidan is the concertmaster of both the orchestra and the chamber orchestra. He has also participated in the NYSMMA Festival and played at All County and the Long Island String Festivals. Aidan will be attending Georgia Tech in the fall where he will study computer engineering.
Middle School
Emily Pulver
Outstanding Achievement in Vocal
Music
Emily has been interested in music since she was a little girl. Her love of performing flourished in the various productions in Garden City schools. In 5th grade (2019), she was cast as Musetta in Stewart School’s production of the opera “La Boheme.” In the Middle School, Emily played Estelle in the 2020 production of “Anything Goes Jr.”, followed by a solo in “This is Me” for the 2021 Musical Revue. In 2022, Emily was cast as the Baker’s Wife in the musical “Into the Woods, Jr.” and played the role in one performance. When the other actresses unfortunately were sick and couldn’t perform, she stepped into the role of the Witch in two performances. In addition to musical theatre, Emily has performed in MYO, All County Chorus 2019 and 2020, and the Girl Scouts of Nassau County Chorus.
Outstanding Achievement in Band
Sarah Phinney
Sarah began playing oboe in the 4th grade band at Stewart School. Since then, she has played in All-County Band and has participated in the NYSSMA music festival four times on oboe. In 8th grade, Sarah learned flute in order to be in the GCHS Marching Band. She also joined the GCMS Jazz Bands. At this year’s Sprachfest, she received first place in music for an oboe and flute duet with her sister, Susanna. She is currently focusing on her oboe, flute, and piano skills. In her free time, Sarah enjoys composing music and playing pieces with her sisters. Sarah is looking forward to continuing in band at GCHS next year!
Outstanding Achievement in Band
Sara Shamail
Sara Shamail is proud and honored to have received the Outstanding Achievement in Band Award. Sara’s interest in music started in third grade when she was introduced to violin in orchestra. Even before then, she had a talent for singing in her choir class. Sara later joined Stewart School’s band in fourth grade, picking up the oboe. She greatly enjoys playing this instrument, and developed a passion for it. She also participated in vocal and instrumental NYSSMA over the course of the last few years. Recently, Sara had gotten a perfect score on her oboe NYSSMA piece, which she is thrilled about. Sara has also been a part of the colorguard in the High School Marching Band since the end of her 7th grade year, which she loves performing in. This 8th grade year at the middle school, she continued her love for music by picking up other instruments. She learned how to play the Tenor Saxophone and Baritone Saxophone in a few short months with the help of her music teachers Ms. Iovino and Ms. DeMarco. She deeply enjoyed playing these new instruments in the ensembles Morning Jazz and Late Night Jazz, and even at festivals and concerts, such as Music In The Parks. Sara is looking forward to attending the Garden City High School in the Fall and continuing her musical journey.
Outstanding Achievement in Orchestra
Emily Fang
Emily began her interest in music with the piano at 5 years old. She soon branched out to the cello in the third grade where she found she really enjoyed playing. At Garden City Middle School, she continued with the cello throughout, and also joined the Late Night Jazz Band. Emily has participated in the NYSSMA festival, the All County orchestra, as well as the Long Island String Festival. She will be continuing orchestra at Garden City High School next year.
Stratford School
Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Music
Grace Gibson
Grace Gibson started singing at a very young age, often creating her own melodies and lyrics. At age 8, Grace participated in her first musical at the Garden City Community Church Theatre where she was a featured vocalist. This year, Grace was thrilled to play the role of “Annie” at the Stratford Elementary School production of Annie KIDS. She has been taking voice lessons since the age of 7 and has spent the last 4 years studying vocal technique under Michelle Mallardi. Grace has participated in NYSSMA for voice and has received outstanding scores. This summer, Grace will take part in a local production of Godspell and is looking forward to 6th grade at Garden City Middle School.
Outstanding Achievement in Band
Devon Rothschild
Devon joined the band at Stratford this year. She started out playing the trumpet but in the winter she decided to try the tuba. She really enjoyed picking up something new and with the help of Ms Kane got herself up to speed. She is looking forward to continuing with the GCMS band next year.
Outstanding Achievement in Orchestra
Charlotte Storm
Charlotte Storm began playing the cello the summer after second grade. She first played with the orchestra at Thomas J. Lahey elementary school in Huntington. After moving to Garden City, Charlotte was delighted to continue playing with the fifth-grade orchestra at Stratford. She has participated in the NYSSMA Festival and the Long Island String Festival. She has also performed at the Harborfields Black History Month Celebration and with the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Huntington intergenerational orchestra. Charlotte currently studies cello and piano with Vincent Basileo.
Stewart School
Outstanding Achievement in Vocal Music
Ava Wolk
Ava has always had a love of music and singing. This year she was thrilled to play Mowgli in the Stewart School production of The Jungle Book and perform with the Stewart Select Chorus. She plays the piano and loves musicals, especially Hamilton! Ava is very excited to continue her music education at GCMS next year.
Outstanding Achievement in Band
Maggie Rogers
Maggie has been playing clarinet during her fifth grade year at Stewart School. She was part of the Stewart School band, led by band director Mr. Psenicka, and played in the Winter and Spring concerts. Maggie participated in the NYSSMA festival for the first time this year. She looks forward to playing in the Middle School band next year and continuing her journey with the clarinet.
Outstanding Achievement in Orchestra
Tyler Chung
Tyler began his interest with the violin in 2018 at Great Neck Music Conservatory. He is in the orchestra at Stewart School. He enjoys all types of music and also plays the piano. Aidan started the violin at the age of four and played in the orchestra since third grade. Currently, Aidan is the concertmaster of both the orchestra and the chamber orchestra. He has also participated in the NYSMMA Festival and played at All County and the Long Island String Festivals. Aidan will be attending Georgia Tech in the fall where he will study computer engineering
