RBR Students Earn High Music Honor; Headed to Nashville to Perform

It's a prestigious arts honor that two Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) students have attained — acceptance to the All-National Honors Ensembles, sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME).

The two RBR Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) students — Patrick Martini, of Union Beach, and Matthew Rosen, of Little Silver — are among 637 top high school music students in the country who have earned the distinction, according to the RBR blog.

As music students in the ensemble, both will be headed to Nashville, Tennessee on Oct. 30 to perform in a national concert — Martini in the mixed chorus and Rosen in the concert band.

Martini, a music and drama double major, has steadily risen in the ranks of the honor choirs since he entered RBR as a freshman in the VPA program. He was selected for three years to the All-Shore Chorus and made first chair for two years.

He advanced to All-State Honor Chorus for the past two years and was the top scorer of 350 male singers. Patrick was also selected for All-State Opera and has appeared in many school musicals and dramas taking lead roles in RBR’s productions of As You Like It, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Little Mermaid, Jr., and Little Women.

He also performed a lead role in the school’s opera presentation of Dido and Aeneas. Martini also performed in community theatre in Phoenix’s production of Sweeney Todd and with the Garden State Players in a musical theater showcase.

Rosen is an instrumental music major in RBR’s VPA with a concentration in clarinet, bass clarinet and saxophone.

His acceptance to the All-National Honors Band is on bass clarinet. This past spring Rosen won the first chair as principal bass clarinet player for the All-Eastern Concert Band.

Rosen has been studying clarinet since the fourth grade and began competing for honors bands in middle school. By eighth grade he had won seats in the middle school All-Shore Band and the Middle School Region II Orchestra.

As a freshman he had the distinction of being accepted to the High School Region II Band on two instruments. By sophomore year he was accepted to the All-State Wind Ensemble on all three instruments. 

Read more about Martini and Rosen, learn more about the honor and hear what they and their teachers have to say about it on the RBR blog by clicking here.