Music
Guilderland High School is home to an award-winning music department. Consisting of eight credit-bearing ensembles and six extracurricular ensembles, the department holds eight concerts a year in addition to participating in other events or area concerts.
The Concert Orchestra and Symphony Orchestra are directed by Jeffrey Herchenroder. Herchenroder is a bassist with the Albany Symphony Orchestra and a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music. He also directs the Chamber Strings, a select, extracurricular ensemble consisting of approximately 15 string players, with occasional guest winds, including many players in the Empire State Youth and Repertory Orchestras. The orchestra was featured on WMHT's Music for the Holidays program in 2004.
The Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble are directed by Kathleen Richards Ehlinger. Ehlinger, a trumpetist for the Tri City Brass Quintet, is a graduate of the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, New York and George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. She also directs the Guilderland Town Band during the summer and is an active clinician throughout the state. The Wind Ensemble, traveled to Annapolis, Maryland in April 2007 for a music festival and received the award for best instrumental group. The oboe section also received the best section award. In addition, the ensemble received a rating of Gold with Distinction at its NYSSMA evaluation in 2007 and 2008. Extracurricular Jazz and Stage Bands are directed by Lee Russo, an accomplished saxophonist who leads a trio and has a CD. Jazz Band is composed of many members of the Empire State Jazz Ensembles.
The Women's Choir and Concert Choir are directed by Rae Jean Teeter. Teeter is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, and has served as the director for All-County choirs across New York, and serves as the New York ACDA High School Repertoire and Standards Chairperson. In April 2007, the choir traveled to Annapolis, MD, where it received an award for scoring above 95, and the choir lost the top prize by only one point. Teeter also conducts the extracurricular Chamber Choir, a select group of 16-24 singers. In December 2006, the Chamber Choir performed at the NYSSMA Convention in Rochester, NY. In March 2007, the ensemble won the New York State High School A Cappella Championship. They have also appeared at the Albany Pro Musica High School Choral Festival and on WMHT's Music for the Holidays. The Mixed Choir is conducted by Nancy Casellini. The Mixed Choir, with the Women's Choir, performed at the State Capitol as part of Music in Our Schools Month in 2007. Casellini also directs the extracurricular Select Tones and Singing Dutchmen. The Select Tones is an auditioned female ensemble, singing a large repertoire of mostly a cappella music. The Singing Dutchmen is a mostly a cappella group open to participation in by all men in the music department.
Extracurricular music ensembles rehearse during the high school's "Advisory" time. Credit-bearing ensembles rehearse as a regular course in a student's schedule. The music department also offers AP Music Theory, Music Theory I, Music Technology I and II, and Music in Our Lives, as courses for credit. Students also have the option of taking Applied Music, whether they are members of the music department or not. Credit can be received for regular private music lessons and regular practice, with occasional performance examinations.
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