Keystone Festival 2022!

Melissa Krainer, Reporter|April 1, 2022

Melissa Krainer

Excited! Seventh grader Kinsley Palilla grins for a picture before the other schools arrive. The festival took place in the high school where the students practiced until the concert started at 7 p.m.

Fiddle fun! Lilly Stahlman (center) and Jacob Matosziuk (left) practice tunes on their violins. These seventh graders practiced hard during the long hours of perfecting. Stahlman’s hard work paid off when she placed second chair in the second violin section after auditions! (Melissa Krainer)
Concentration. Seventh graders Gabriella Sparacino (left) and Elexis Hawksworth (right) concentrate on the viola parts in the performance. Hawksworth later placed first chair in the viola section after auditions! (Melissa Krainer)
Ready, set, play! Eighth grader Gabrielle Beldin practices one of the songs. She joined the giant viola section later to play in the concert. (Melissa Krainer)
Relax. Gabrielle Filer (left) and Natalie Etters (right), both eighth graders, take a break from the hubbub. The morning and afternoon were filled with hours of practicing before the concert. (Melissa Krainer)
Now bass, now violin: eighth grader Andrew Sackett switches it up when he tries the violin before the practice begins. Sackett later joined the other basses as third chair! (Melissa Krainer)
A violin! Eighth grader Isabella Abbott gets ready to play one of the selections. Abbott was in the first violin section for the concert. (Melissa Krainer)
Musicians. Stahlman inquires and listens to the violas practicing their part in one of the songs. All of the different parts flowed together beautifully in the concert after a tiring day of practice. (Melissa Krainer)
Mingle! A few violins and violas practice and discuss parts of the songs. Hawksworth played one of the viola solos. (Melissa Krainer)
Pose. Seventh graders Quinn Phillips (left) and Ruth Cron (right) display their violins for a photo. Both Cron and Phillips played in the second violin section along with Stahlman and Matosziuk. (Melissa Krainer)
A Trio! Three violas (Beldin, Sparacino and Hawksworth) concentrate on their music before the festival practice starts. The entire Altoona Keystone orchestra met many new people. It was a day and night to remember! (Melissa Krainer)