Blog Post #20 - Mr. Daniels and Victor Stiles at MMEA All-State!

By Guest Blogger: Mr. Daniels
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Hello everyone! My name is Mr. Daniels (or apparently the man, the myth the legend himself, Mr. Daniels) and I am thrilled to be a guest blogger on the DHS Chorus Blog! It has been an amazing first year for me at DHS and I couldn’t be happier that I have had the opportunity to spend time with the wonderful students in our programs making great music. 

I have the distinct pleasure of talking about the 2020 MMEA All-State Conference. The MMEA All-State conference is a massive conference that takes place annually sponsored by MMEA, the Massachusetts Music Educators Association. The conference is held at the Seaport Hotel and World Trade Center in the Seaport district of Boston. Each year the conference has two main events happening at the same time. First, there is the professional development for teachers. Second is the All-State ensembles (Concert Band, Jazz Band, Orchestra and Chorus) that are made up of the best high school students from across the state. 

In order to qualify for All-State, students had to audition and make their respective Senior District festival as one of the top scores then audition again for All-State. It is a rigorous process and this year Danvers High was fortunate enough to get one student, Victor Stiles ‘22, into the All-State Chorus. Victor arrived at the Seaport on Thursday, March 5th and spent two full days rehearsing with the chorus. A sample day looked something like this: 

8:00am - Breakfast
8:30am - Rehearsal 
10:00am - Break 
10:15am - Rehearsal 
11:45am - Lunch 
12:30pm - Rehearsal 
3:00pm - Break 
3:20pm - Rehearsal 
5:00pm - Dinner
6:15pm - Rehearsal 
7:30pm - Activity 

On Saturday, Victor and the All-State Chorus got to perform at Symphony Hall in Boston. This year’s conductor was Dr. Jonathan Palant from the University of Texas at Dallas. My personal favorite piece the chorus performed was “Even When He Is Silent” composed by Kim Andre Arnesen. A wonderful video of this piece in the atrium of the World Trade center can be seen below!     

I know that Mr. Grover and I look forward to more students auditioning for this event in the future. I wish everyone safety and health during this time and I hope to see you all in person again real soon. Until then, stay musical! 

Mr. Daniels and Victor at All-State this year!

Mr. Daniels is the band director at Danvers High School.  He leads the Falcon Marching Band, Concert and Jazz Band and is the advisor of the Tri-M Music Honor Society with Mr. Grover.  Before teaching at Danvers High School, Mr. Daniels was the middle school band director in Dedham, MA, where he also directed their high school marching band.  He is on the equipment team for MMEA's All-State festival.