Photo by William Funderburk

Picture from left to right: Juniors Vincent Young, Claire Rhee and Mirae Nishikawa pose with their instruments at Belhaven University in Jackson on March 22.

Claire Rhee was named this year’s concertmistress of the Mississippi All-State Orchestra, becoming the first north Mississippian to receive the honor in decades after she and fellow juniors Mirae Nishikawa and Vincent Young performed with the group at Belhaven University in Jackson on March 22.

Rhee is a violinist with 12 years of experience who has performed in the All-State Orchestra twice prior. Her teacher, Juilliard alum Shandy Phillips, was also a past honoree. Nishikawa and Young secured the third and sixth chairs, respectively, in the cello section.

“This is one of the biggest milestones [of my musical career],” Rhee said. “Being concertmistress is an absolute honor.”

Belhaven University’s music department selects young string players from across the state through a competitive audition process. Candidates were asked to perform a scale and three excerpts from the concert, while those competing for concertmaster also prepared a featured solo piece.

In preparation for the performance, the MSMS Strings Club rehearsed together before traveling to Jackson, where the orchestra spent two days practicing intensively for more than 10 hours in total. Despite having difficult pieces to learn, Rhee said the conductor led the orchestra very well, answering questions and ensuring no one fell behind.

The orchestra took the stage at Belhaven’s Center for the Arts Concert Hall.

Nishikawa — a third-time All-State participant — said playing the challenging music was a fun and immersive experience.

“It was great seeing how the various parts of the orchestra converged to create a variety of atmospheres,” Nishikawa said.

The final performance, Young said, was the most rewarding moment of the entire experience. When the orchestra hit the final note and the audience applauded, he said he felt incredible accomplishment and pride. 

“I was amazed at how quickly we were able to bring the music to life, even though we had such limited rehearsal time,” he said. “There’s something magical about feeling the energy of the audience and knowing that all our hard work paid off.”

Inspired by their All-State journey, all three plan to continue pursuing music. Nishikawa and Rhee said they aim to audition again next year, while Young added that participating at All-State has inspired him to audition for more advanced ensembles and possibly pursue music in college.

“The rehearsals were intense, and there were moments where I felt a little overwhelmed, but pushing through helped me grow as a musician,” Young said.