On the first weekend of January, sixteen Feehan students participated in the Southeastern Senior Districts Music Festival. Choral students include Idalia Beerman-Rodriguez ‘24, Mirolla Boules ‘24, Allie Burns ‘24, Isabella CaraDonna ‘25, Sophia Castro ‘25, Neve Constantine ‘26, Kate DeVincent ‘24, Grace Kent ‘26, Maddie Kent ‘24, Laney O’Donnell ‘25, Faith O’Hanlon ‘24, Emma Roveda ‘25, Arianna Simoneau ‘24, and Molly Sullivan ‘24. The choral students were split into two separate choruses, the Treble Chorus and the Mixed Chorus. Treble Chorus only includes upper voices, Sopranos, and Altos, while Mixed Chorus includes all voices, Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, and Bases. Isabella CD, Grace K, Maddie K, Faith O, and Arianna S were placed in Treble Chorus while Idalia B-R, Mirolla B, Allie B, Sophia C, Neve C, Kate D, Laney O, Emma R, and Molly S were placed into Mixed Chorus.
The band students who auditioned back in November were placed into one of three groups. Orchestra, Jazz Band, or Concert Band. Bishop Feehan had two band students accepted into the Southeastern Massachusetts Senior Districts Music Festival. Andrew DeGuzman ‘24 and Ben Davis ‘27 were both placed into the Concert Band.
The students participating in the festival performed at Canton High School. On Friday, January 5th, the students arrived at Canton High School at 8:30 AM and were separated into their respective groups. The choral students sang and the band students played from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM with only a couple breaks for snacks and lunch. On Saturday, January 6th, the students arrived in their concert black and prepared for their concerts. The Jazz Band, Treble Chorus, and Mixed Chorus performed first at 1:30 PM and then the Orchestra and Concert Band performed second at 3:00 PM.
Speaking with students who performed at the festival, there were a lot of positive experiences. Arianna Simoneau said that the festival,
Arianna was placed in Treble Chorus alongside Maddie Kent who said her experience was
As a junior, it was Isabella CaraDonna’s first introduction to the Districts Festival, and she described her experience positively, saying she loved being around All of the aforementioned singers were in the Treble Chorus, which was managed by Feehan’s very own Mrs. Sara Seals. As the manager, Mrs. Seals approved song choices, helped with the auditions, made sure the whole weekend ran smoothly, and much, much more, as well as choosing the conductor of the Treble Chorus, Mr. Chaequan Anderson from New Jersey. In addition to all of her hard work during the auditions and the festival weekend (January 5th-6th), Mrs. Seals attended monthly meetings with the rest of the executive board for the Southeastern District.
Moving to Mixed Chorus, Mirolla Boules, who sang as a Tenor, says the festival was a The Mixed Chorus manager was Mary DiRoberts—who teaches Chorus at Furnace Brook Middle School in Marshfield, MA— chose Dr. Edryn Coleman, from Alabama, to be the Mixed Chorus conductor. “Dr. Coleman brought so much energy to the Mixed Chorus, he was full of so much passion and love for music and teaching music but also lots of profound quotes like ‘teachers need students like pencils need erasers,’” said one of the students who sang in the Mixed Choir.
With the Concert Band, only two Feehan students were participatinge band. Andrew DeGuzman, who played the Trombone, and Ben Davis, who played the Clarinet. Andrew describes his experience as The manager of the Concert Band was Rachel Goldstein who chose Dr. Jason Noble, who teaches at NYU. Andrew continued to say that his experience at the festival was so unique thanks to his amazing conductor, Dr. Noble.
The Bishop Feehan students who participated in this weekend filled with music, friends, and learning experiences agree that the Southeastern Massachusetts Senior Districts Music Festival had a positive impact on their lives as musicians.
