By: Natalie Zur

Sentry Staff Reporter

Yorktown was selected as a semifinalist for the 2014 GRAMMYs.  No, not the ones broadcasted on television.  The GRAMMY foundation each year recognizes U.S. public high schools for excellent music programs, budgets and school politics aside, by awarding “Signature Schools” awards.  The awards provide monetary grants for schools thereby supporting greater opportunities for creating and preserving music’s position in society.  Thanks to band director, Brian Bersh’s guidance and ability to instill dedication, Yorktown has received yet another accolade.

Earlier this year the marching band “shot up a couple places at the nationals competition in Annapolis, we earned 4th place out of 16 bands, and last year we got 13th,” according to sophomore and alto sax player Michaela Morrison.

Freshman Ben Celestino, member of the symphonic band and jazz chamber ensemble, confirmed that the atmosphere has really supported the exponential growth of the music program.

“The best part of being in the music program is just the community of people and having Mr. Bersh as the director, he makes music a lot of fun and everyone excited to practice every day,” said Celestino.

When the competition was narrowed down, Yorktown was one of only three schools selected in Virginia.  And the denominator for success was truly the people involved.

“I believe we were chosen as a semifinalist because everyone here has such a positive attitude towards music,” Morrison explained. “We all love to play and it shows in our concerts.”

Last August the GRAMMY in the Schools Foundation mailed notification to more than 20,000 public high schools asking for them to submit information about their music programs.  123 semifinalists were named after evaluating and scoring the applications.   However, the GRAMMY in the Schools Foundation is not the only one taking note of Yorktown’s music program.

“People are seeing us, seeing our dedication and taking notice.  Even directors from the University of Virginia saw us play and invited the band to come down and take some specialty clinics and receive a tour of the campus afterwards,” Celestino added.

The semifinalist schools are now required to provide additional documentation of their music programs, which can be exemplified through concert recordings, concert programs and other repertoire.  In mid-March the foundation will announce the finalists.  Top music programs are awarded Gold recipient status, and the school with the best music program in the nation is named the National GRAMMY Signature School.   All of the finalists receive monetary grants ranging from $1,000 to $15,000.

The GRAMMY foundation’s purpose is to highlight the outstanding music programs within the country, and now Yorktown has more proof to show that they can #beatWL.

Featured Image by Libby Boda