For the past five decades, the Massachusetts Music Education Association (MMEA) has been holding annual concerts to promote the advancement of music education. MMEA is divided into four districts including Southeastern, Central, Western and Northeastern. MMEA auditions students for various public and private schools in the district. The audions are very competitive and those selected present a recital after three days of rigorous practice.

The Northeastern District consists of Middlesex and Essex counties. Its 47th Annual Northeastern District Concert was held on January 8th at the Lowell High School, Lowell, MA. The concert consists of an Orchestra, Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble and Chorus. Shiv Mundkar, Violist from  Lexington, Amrita Saigal, Violist from Burlington, Raghu Rangan , Violist from Wellesley, Arjun Ramamurti , Cellist from Lexington and Ravi Ramanathan, Trumpet player from Carlisle were part of the orchestra that was conducted by Dr. Glenn Block.  They opened with the Star Spangled banner followed by the Carneval Overture (A. Dvorak) and Symphony No. 2 – IV Movt. Finale (J. Sibelius).

Roopa Chari, a singer from  Andover was part of the chorus which was lead by William Kempster. They presented Wade in de Water , Fac me tecum from Stabat Mater (K. Szymanowsky), La Gloriosa Rota (M. Zuccante), Ave Verum Corpus (A. Quintana) and Richte mich Gott (F. Mendelssohn).

The audience were treated to a great musical performance and the young performers proved their talent in their presentations.  The Massachusetts Music Educator's Association, MMEA, is a federated state unit of MENC - the National Association for Music Education.

The purpose of MMEA is to advocate and promote the advancement of music education through the schools of the Commonwealth and other educational institutions or organizations,  secure greater recognition for music as an integral part of the school curriculum, to provide enrichment opportunities in music for students through District and All-State honor groups and encourage music activities among the schools of the Commonwealth by means of festivals, clinics, and other related events.  (www.mmeaonline.org)

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