State College Student selected to National High School Honors Orchestra

Raina Arnett, a State College Area High School junior, was recently selected to the National High School Honors Orchestra and performed in a national showcase in Louisville, Kent., in March.

The American String Teachers Association organizes the orchestra biennially to showcase the most talented young musicians in 11th and 12th grade from orchestras in each state. Arnett, a violinist, was the only student from Pennsylvania selected to be a part of this year’s National High School Honors Orchestra.

Arnett was competitively selected through an audition process in which prospective applicants submitted recordings of a required piece. Arnett’s submissions included the first movement of Felix Mendelssohn’s violin concerto in E minor and Astor Piazzolla’s Tango Etude no. 4. Arnett also sent in recommendations from instructors and school principals, and also included a resume of musical accomplishments and repertoire list.

The National High School Honors Orchestra performs music from the professional orchestral literature under the direction of an internationally recognized director. This year, they performed Shostakovich Symphony no. 5 under the direction of Gary Lewis, Director of Orchestras and Professor of Music at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Locally, Arnett serves as associate concertmaster of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra and plays with the Nittany Valley Symphony and school ensembles.

This upcoming summer, Arnett will participate in the Castleman Quartet Program, an intensive seven-week chamber and solo workshop lauded by Yo-Yo Ma as “The best program of its kind.”

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