High school students hit the notes

WARWICK-Earlier this year, Warwick Valley High School junior Peter Cody Fiduccia, tried out and was accepted into the Manhattan School of Music's Pre-College Music Program for operatic voice study. Last week, baritone Fiduccia was the high school's only chorus student to be selected as a member of the 2005 Conference All-State Mixed Chorus, with the help of Lois Heller, director of music at the high school. Clarinet player Michelle Van Tieghem, a fellow junior at Warwick Valley High School, was the high school's only band member invited to the All-State Festival. Students spend countless hours preparing a solo, which is evaluated by an adjudicator for recommendation to the All-States. To qualify, a music teacher must recommend the student, application forms must be complete, and the candidate must be a participating member of a corresponding school music organization at the time of the audition and at the time of the application. Successful candidates are assigned a position in one of eight All-State performing ensembles. This year's festival will take place from Thursday, Dec. 1, to Sunday, Dec. 4, at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center in Rochester, with the actual performance taking place on Sunday, Dec. 4.