Ardsley Student Musicians Excel at NYSSMA Piano Solo Festival

Nearly 50 Ardsley student pianists demonstrated their musical talents at the annual NYSSMA Piano Solo Festival hosted at Byram Hills High School on March 28-29. The event challenged students to perform prepared scales, a solo piece, and execute sight-reading exercises under adjudicator evaluation.

The festival, organized by the New York State School Music Association, provides crucial performance opportunities that strengthen music education across New York State through structured activities and programs designed to develop young musicians' skills and confidence.

"The NYSSMA experience helps students build both technical skills and performance confidence," said a music department representative. "The preparation process teaches valuable lessons in dedication and musical discipline."

Participating students represented all three Ardsley schools:

Elementary Division

Twelve Concord Road Elementary students participated, including Siddharth Banerjee, Julien Calabrese, Eleanor Hassani, Sophia Hernandez, Maya Hoskote, Junho Lee, Avery Louie, Kenzo Manabe, Sonia Miller, Talia Miller, Riley Roh, and Mila Santo.

Middle School Division

The largest group came from Ardsley Middle School with 29 participants: Cara Ahn, Katherine Avity, Nathan Bencosme, Gabriel Calabrese, Arya Chhabra, Liam Doyle, Nathaniel Evans, Elizabeth Hassani, Kristin Hernandez, Lucas Huang, Nirvi Irigela, Harshaan Julka, Maya Khurana, Eleanor Lim, Ethan Lim, Hannah Liptak, Kazunari Manabe, Sean O'Donovan, Ellie Olszowski, Emma Olszowski, Polina Ostashkin, Ishani Patel, Shafy Sher, Lenka Simic, Taiki To, Caitlyn Tran, Rebecca Ung, and Ariana Vashisht.

High School Division

Seven Ardsley High School students completed evaluations: Katherine Cai, Jeevan Kadaplackal, Aayan Kapoor, Kiera Murray, Ivan Ostashkin, Taiga To, and Max Zhou.