Congratulations to Deer Lakes senior Leif DeForce-Petersen and junior Jenna Hohmann who will perform with the PMEA All-State Orchestra!
It is the first time in the school history that strings performers have advanced to PMEA states.
“This is pretty cool, especially because we’re doing this together and we have a really competitive district,” Leif said.
“It’s nice to go to states and to see all of our hard work pay off,” Jenna added.
The two practiced for several hours a day leading up to districts and earned seating in the top eight, which automatically qualified them for regionals.
Auditions at districts qualified them for regionals, in which they again earned a ranking high enough to automatically qualify them for states.
Leif and Jenna are violinists in the Deer Lakes orchestra and have played together since elementary school. They also play violin in the Pittsburgh Youth Concert Orchestra.
“I am so extremely proud of these two incredible young musicians!” Deer Lakes Strings Director Mrs. Leanne Scholl said. “They started playing in my program in fourth grade and have worked very hard over the past several years to get to this level of performance. Their dedication and work ethic is inspiring, and I am so excited for my students to have the opportunity to perform with the most talented high school musicians in the state.”
The PMEA All-State Festival at the Kalahari Resort in The Poconos will take place April 19-22, 2023. Nationally recognized conductors at the convention direct the student musicians.
Good Luck at States! #DLProud