Over 130 Port Washington School District students were selected to perform at the 2026 Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) All County Music Festival—held at the Tilles Center for the Performing Arts on multiple days this January. The festival brings music students together from schools throughout Nassau County.
To qualify for selection, most students perform at the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Adjudication Festival, and the students must be nominated by their music teachers. Several committees of Nassau Music Educators Association (NMEA) music educators select the students for the ensembles. Kevin Scully, Director of Creative Arts for the Port Washington School District, noted that this is once again the largest number of students ever selected from the district, surpassing 2025’s selection by approximately ten students. He attributes that to the hardworking students and music faculty. “Our students and district music teachers spend countless hours preparing students for the all-county music festivals. From NYSSMA preparation to extra help sessions, to the actual process of nominating the students, their efforts are second to none,” said Scully.
The Port Washington students performed in five different divisions—broken down by grade level—in the categories of Band, Chorus, Orchestra, Vocal Jazz, and Jazz Band.
Congratulations to the following students*:
Schreiber High School
Ethan Borda, Shiyi Hu, Marshall Cheung, Vivian Leung, Oliver Mayeri, Luca Mayeri, Victoria Kaufman, Jordan Morley, Isabella Ertel, Amanda Mellow, Alexandra Lazear, Kyle Grossman, Aurora Mata, Simone Gordon, Connor Roditi, Caroline Wong, Ava Lau, Antonio Capobianco, Grayson Meister, Aisling Hassett, Gabriel Jaffe, Charles Paredes, Samantha Martinez, Elizabeth Milgrim, Ella Cherry, Charlotte Walz, Allison Mandelkern, Viktor Straesser, Timothy Topal, Norman Yao, Ashley Guo, Sophie Sobel, Lucien Fernandez De Cesare, Evan Matthew Mallari, Joohah Kim, Alexander Efkarpidis, Sophie Gebbie, Lila Hershman, Marisyn Scully, Angela Corra, Ryan Roditi, Mae Straesser, Benjamin Zawadzki, and Kako Murayama.
Weber Middle School
Alya Alkan, Alice Amberg, Kiran Cherena, Ayla Chin, Daisy Claster, Emily Cooper, Corinne Cheah, Emma Cassens, Savannah Detor, Daniel Princian, Kim Erin, Ezra Smolow, Eliot Christ, Campbell Fein, Madison Grosdidier, Eloise Hwang, Jessica Li, Leyah Jo, Leo Tito, Bradley Ganatra, Nicholas Picciuto, Sylvie Melman, Sam Rosen, Michelle Lee, Luke Serna, Adia Moralez, Mia Sendrowitz, Kylie Meier, Minnie Cavuoti, Joelle Weaderhorn, Evan Wang, Ben Milgrim, Jack Rabin, and Alexa Russo.
Daly Elementary School
Jacob Adler, Claire Xie, Audrey Goren, Jacob Filner, Kennedy Lee, Mason Vasquez, and Lilly-Ann Persaud.
Guggenheim Elementary School
Juliana Bromberg, Isabella Curreri, Eliyah Copquin, Henry Gluck, Margaret Hartswich, Lila Kanner, Kaeli Natter, and Lyla Paltrowitz.
Manorhaven Elementary School
Juliet Goldberg, Stella Miller, Isla Browne, Mallory Clark, Hazuki Kumasaka, Leo Nagasawa, and Daniel Yanes Vega.
Salem Elementary School
Zachary Basov, Catalina Jiang, Maahi Walia, Megan Lacy, Cori Kanefsky, Bianca LiBuono, Kathryn Katechis, Farrah Turney, Raina Scully, and Hilomori Ueda.
Sousa Elementary School
Samantha Daniello, Teddy D’Ingilio, Quinn Coyne, Mia Serna, Liam Meyer, Gabriella Mileta, Richa Nashikkar, Meisa Sappakit, Sophie Markman, Preston Wong, and Jenna Wang.
*(Some students were unavailable for photos and are not pictured.)