On Thursday, Nov. 21 the Virginia All-State Guitar Ensemble performed at the Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia. These elite high school guitarists were considered to have the utmost ability and skill within the entire state. Out of the 28 students chosen six were selected from our local community, specifically Potomac Falls.

Seniors Kyle Butt, Carolina Chung, Maya Loncar, Tristan O’Shea, and juniors Maryam Hajialigol and Steven Paredes were amongst the 28 highly qualified guitarists chosen to participate in the Virginia Guitar Ensemble. Although their skills are known around school, they were required to audition for this prestigious position. Based on the students location, they were sent to specific high schools around Virginia where they had to prepare three scales and the beginning of a solo piece.

“I practiced a lot, I really enjoy playing guitar since I’ve been playing since 9th grade, so it wasn’t bad,” said Paredes.

After the pressures of performing, the six who were selected were instructed to practice and prepare seven pieces of music.

“We played all kinds of music, mostly classical. For example, we played In the Hills of the Mountain King but we also played some modern music,” said Loncar, “We all practiced and I really liked the music, it was fun to play and was catchy.”

However, although the majority of their practicing was done outside of school, guitar teacher William Wells did not abandoned them. “Mr. Wells is held some practices during FLEX, it really helped us out,” said Loncar.

Although our school is proud to acknowledge those selected for All-State Guitar, the Artist Guitar ensemble also gained its recognition in the state.

“We [Artist Guitar] played a 45 minute concert for the Virginia Music Educators Association, it was really cool because we are the first high school guitar ensemble to play at the VMEAs. We basically represented what guitar education is all about,” said senior Tony Rogers.

The VMEAs is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide leadership and professional development to ensure quality music education. Its goal is to provide mutual helpfulness to its members and to promote the advancement of music education through schools and other educational institutions, having our guitar program represent the entire state of Virginia was more than just slight praise.

Potomac Falls has always been proud of its Arts and Music programs, not only are the students strikingly talented, but the staff show their passion for teaching and inspiring students. “Less than 30 students in the state were chosen to be a part of All-State Guitar, one third of the ensemble were students from Potomac Falls. It just shows how good our guitar program is here,” said Loncar.