As audience members settled into their seats on Jan. 17 at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento for the annual California All-State Music Education Conference (CASMEC), junior saxophone player Barbara Vasilyeva prepared to play “Paramos” by Jhoely Garay, featuring a baritone saxophone and trumpet melody.
She was one of 18 musicians from the school who performed in their respective ensembles — Wind Symphony, Symphony Orchestra, Golden State Band, Concert Band and Symphonic Band — on Jan. 18-19 after traveling to the conference on Jan. 15.
Vasilyeva, who plays the saxophone in the Saratoga Symphonic Wind Ensemble and in the advanced Jazz Band, was accepted to CASMEC for Jazz Band, the first acceptance for an SHS student into that group in eight years.
“I felt my heart totally drop [when I got the email.] I was terrified because I had auditioned for both the classical and jazz bands, and I wasn’t expecting to get into either. So I opened up the email, my eyes kind of scrolled, I saw my name right at the bottom and I started screaming,” she said.
CASMEC brings conductors from universities and schools around the nation to lead students in their respective music ensembles. At the high school level, only 674 students statewide were selected to attend; over 2,000 student musicians were in attendance and 5,000 industry professionals guided the students. In 2024, 20 students from SHS were accepted, a higher number than most high schools.
Vasilyeva hopes to be part of expanding the jazz program at SHS, especially as she recognizes the potential for interested students to become more involved in the field. As a student who has looked up to other jazz musicians, both professional and at the high school and collegiate level, she was inspired by her time surrounded by fellow accomplished and talented jazz musicians at the conference.
Here were 18 SHS musicians who traveled to Sacramento for CASMEC:
- Orchestra: freshman bass Aryan Swamy, sophomores violin Jenny Jiang, violin Sarah Jiang, bass Chloe Lublinerman and bass Dhruv Narayan, junior cello Florence Wei and violin Lucy Zhang and senior bass Ian Kim.
- Band: freshman trumpet Brandon Chen, juniors clarinet Kathy Chen, saxophone Dylan Huang and saxophone and Jazz Band member Barbara Vasilyeva and seniors French horn Ryan Sanders and saxophone Jed Yao.
- Choir: sophomores Norah Heller and Sophie Poon, junior Navya Rao and senior Aria Zhang — all altos.
The four-day conference included performances from various schools and the all-state ensembles — Vocal Jazz, Jazz Band, String Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra, Golden State Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony for the high school level.
Auditions for these performance groups included recordings of musical excerpts and scales to adjudicators submitted in mid October. Students were notified of their acceptance in mid November and were given the music ahead of time to prepare and practice on their own before traveling to the conference.
Huang, a saxophone player in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble was accepted into the Wind Symphony — the highest-level band ensemble — after performing in the Concert Band the previous year. Huang was also seated as first chair, after an in-person seating placement held on the first day, and was given a solo on the soprano saxophone for “Traveler” by David Maslanka.
“You have to shift gears [when you play a solo] because you have to pick it up in the middle of an ensemble piece,” Huang said. “I had to shift from ‘how can I blend better with everyone else?’ to ‘how can I cut through [the other players?]’”
Huang will remember not only the musical insights he gained at CASMEC but also the people he played alongside.
“I’ll treasure the friends I made at All-State the most,” Huang said. “It’s not all about the music, but the people who play the music as well.”
