NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble, Jayson Martinez

Mr. Jayson Martinez, M.Mus; M. EdLd. NJMEA Chairperson for Guitar Education

Most of the country’s culture system shut down all at once in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic. For young and emerging artists whose performances were scheduled this spring, some of which represented large-scale debuts, the personal disruption can feel profound.

However, we as artists are called to bring light into the darkness and remain steadfast in our resolve! Thus, as we conquer this storm, our NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble will continue to strive for excellence and plan for our next achievements. Together we will extol the virtues of all our artists. The purpose of this article is to remind the reader of exactly who we are, and highlight our upcoming goals.

The NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble was established by Thomas Amoriello in 2015 and has quickly gained popularity across the country. With many high school guitar students from across the state participating each year, this premier ensemble has established itself as the top program for guitar education and collaboration in New Jersey. The impact of this program is evident in the success of the students, as many have been accepted into prestigious music institutions and performance groups, garnering countless awards and merits. Several of these talented high school guitarists have also earned full scholarships to attend top institutions and universities to further their education at the collegiate level.

The recent achievements of NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble members include acceptance into the NAfME AllNational Guitar Ensemble, performing alongside with other top high school guitar students from across the nation. The NAfME All-National Honor Ensembles (ANHE) represent the best performing high school musicians in the United States. Furthermore, several members were selected to participate in masterclass settings, performing for world-renowned guitarists such as Jorge Caballero, Andrew York, Ana Maria Rosado, Newman and Oltman Duo, and Ben Verdery. The guitarists have also received top honors at several city and state Teen Arts Festivals, in addition to winning first place and superior ratings at the Music in the Parks Festival at Six Flags Great Adventure and Hershey Park.

Here’s the tentative plan: Our 2020 NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble students will audition in December 2020 at The College of New Jersey. Special priorities will be given to those students whom could not perform in this year’s GuitarFest due to Covid-19.

The selected students will perform at William Paterson University’s annual GuitarFest in 2021, hosted by Seth Himmelhoch. Next year’s conductor is slated to be Raul Huaman, guitar teacher at JP Stevens High School in Edison, winner of the 2019 College Success Award. William Paterson University’s annual GuitarFest is a one-day guitar festival that occurs each spring. This annual celebration is a focal point for guitar students and a showcase to the community for world-class artists of the classical gui-

tar. The students present a concert of solo and ensemble music. Seminars, master classes and other performances take place, creating an atmosphere of musical excellence. Each year, the festival presents one featured artist, whose concert performance forms the centerpiece of the festival. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us to work together and collaborate to achieve new heights of success. One example, spearheaded by the Paris Guitar Foundation, was to assemble an international web orchestra. Students uploaded a performance of their part of the chosen piece, entitled Dansa Peruvienne. Our NJMEA guitarists, along with countless other guitarists worldwide, formed the CoronOrchestra, a virtual ensemble with shades of Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque” virtual choir piece. The finished product will be uploaded to YouTube soon.

Along with more concerts and collaborations, we as the NJMEA Honors Guitar Ensemble will continue to achieve new goals and not acquiesce to defeat due to the recent crisis. We will continue to aver that it is music that tells us that the human race is greater than we realize.