Albert Lea High School music students selected for the Minnesota All State ensembles will assemble this weekend to brush up their music and present their programs for the music teachers attending the Minnesota Music Educators Midwinter Conference. Senior Scott Gryzbowski will sing in the All State men’s chorus under the direction of Jonathan Reed from Michigan State University and senior Rika Boorsma will sing in the All State Women’s Chorus under the direction of Mary Kay Geston of the Great River Chorale.  Sam Ware, junior, will perform as a percussionist in the All State Symphonic Band under the direction of James Spinazzola from Cornell University.  Solveig Lange, senior, will play violin in the All State Orchestra under the direction of Mark Russell Smith from the University of Minnesota.

The students were selected last spring for the elite organizations out of over 2,000 students who auditioned state-wide. They rehearsed together this past summer at camps held across the state where they worked for a week with their esteemed conductors on their music.  They will perform Saturday at Orchestra Hall in downtown Minneapolis. The choirs sing at 10:30 a.m. and the instrumental groups perform at 1:30 p.m. The students are taught by Diane Heaney, Suzanne Mauer and Rebekah Crissinger.