Seventeen students and staff represented Walled Lake Consolidated Schools at the Michigan Music Conference

Seven middle school and seven high school students, as well as four staff members, shined on stage in Grand Rapids this past week at the Michigan Music Conference.

Walled Lake Western alto saxophone player Noah Springer was selected as one of the top young composers in Michigan for the second-straight year. Springer’s piece, String Quartet No. 1 in B Minor, was performed by Sarah G. Banks Middle School orchestra teacher Teresa Cirihal, Walled Lake Western students Willem Damron and Chia Hurtado, and retired educator Linda Trotter.

Additionally, a saxophone quartet from Walled Lake Northern featuring Gustave Vezzollo, Claudia Sullivan, Johan Haupt and Ivan Banas were selected to perform The Cuckoo, a work composed by a senior at Waterford Kettering.

Ten students were also chosen for the 2025-26 All-State program. Only the top performers for each instrument were selected out of over 2,700 middle school and high school students that auditioned. Those students then had the opportunity to rehearse with esteemed conductors for two days before performing on Saturday at the Michigan Music Conference.

Sarah G. Banks Middle School viola player Thomas Cirihal and violinists Joel Kane and Kosei Okano performed as part of the Middle School All-State Orchestra. Fellow Bulldogs Brady Cruzen (clarinet), Nicholas Heuvers (tuba), and Nicholas Small (clarinet) were also joined by Clifford H. Smart Middle School baritone saxophonist Jace Trotter in the Middle School All-State Band.

All three high schools were represented as part of the All-State program. Damron (cello) and Walled Lake Central’s Saya Farrell (oboe) performed as part of the High School All-State Full Orchestra. Vellozzo was our lone representative in the High School All-State Band.

Additionally, Walled Lake Central’s Elizabeth Freeman (bassoon), Benjamine Reed (baritone), and Sonakshi Verma (flute), along with Walled Lake Northern’s Celia Vazquez, Walled Lake Western’s Miles Tucker-Gough (string bass), and Sarah G. Banks Middle School’s Nicholas Glik (alto and baritone saxophones), received honorable mention recognition for their outstanding auditions.

Walled Lake Northern’s Ashley Ward was recognized as one of the top choir directors in the state of Michigan by the Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA). Ward was one of six selected to conduct the state honors choirs. She worked with roughly 90 of Michigan’s finest sopranos and altos conducting the high school SSAA Honors Choir.

Former Walled Lake Western band director Patrick Dudzinski, who retired this summer, was honored with the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association’s Emeritus Award. This award celebrates a career of dedication, excellence and leadership in music education.

Finally, Walled Lake Central band director, Grant Prater, presented with colleagues from the Huron Valley and Lake Orion school districts. Their session, “Recruit, Recharge, & Rock the Room | Beating Burnout and Finding Joy in Teaching,” focused on the importance of mentorship, practical strategies for building a program and maintaining joy while making music.