BBHS Ensemble wins first Gold rating at NYSSMA Major Festival
BBHS Seniors recognized as Semifinalists in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Competition
Congratulations to Blind Brook High School seniors Amrit Mohapatra, Simon Riley, Abigail Weintraub and Jocelyn Zheng for being named a 2026 National Merit Scholar Semifinalists.
This past week officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMS®) announced the names of more than 16,000 Semifinalists in the 71st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The semifinalists have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 6,930 National Merit Scholarships worth nearly $26 million that will be offered next spring.
“I am so proud of these four semifinalists,” BBHS Principal Mark Greenwald said. “They are all incredible, committed students and are very deserving of the recognition. I wish them all the best as they move forward through the process to become National Merit Scholars.”
To be considered for a Merit Scholarship® award, Semifinalists must fulfill several requirements to advance to the Finalist level of the competition. About 95 percent of the Semifinalists are expected to attain Finalist standing, and approximately half of the Finalists will win a National Merit Scholarship, earning the Merit Scholar® title.
In a release from the NMSP, it noted “over 1.3 million juniors in about 20,000 high schools entered the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2024 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state's percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.”
The release also outlined the next steps for semifinalists, who must
BBHS Ensemble wins first Gold rating at NYSSMA Major Festival
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Director of Bands, Brian Lotze announced that on Monday May 18th, the Blind Brook High School Wind Ensemble earned a Gold rating at the NYSSMA Major Organization Festival. It was the first time the ensemble has participated in this event.
The students performed three challenging works at a level 5 difficulty: Midway March by John Williams, First Suite in E♭ for Military Band by Gustav Holst, and Abram's Pursuit by David R. Holsinger. Both NYSSMA adjudicators highly praised the group's musicality, tonal concept, and stylistic approach.
“What made this achievement especially meaningful is that the students walked into a high-stakes festival environment for the first time and rose to it, performing a program that demands real endurance, technical command, and musical maturity. They put in the work, and it showed,” Mr. Lotze said.
“My thanks to the families, administration, and colleagues who support our music program every day. Most of all, congratulations to the student musicians of the Wind Ensemble. You earned this,” he continued.
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