Monroe High School Senior Mary Stehulak has been chosen to play percussion for the Michigan Youth Arts Festival (MYAF) Honors Band, the second straight year she has been invited to perform with an elite state musical group.  When she was a junior, she played percussion in the MYAF Honors Orchestra.

            “It is always a great honor for a student to be chosen to participate in the MYAF but for Mary to do it two years in a row – one year in the orchestra and the next year in the band – is extremely rare.  This selection is a fitting tribute to the musical talent that Mary has,” said James Nuechterlein, Monroe High School instrumental music director.

            The Michigan Youth Arts Festival is held at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo May 4-9.  It is a comprehensive arts spectacular, resulting from a nine-month search for the finest artistic talent in Michigan high schools.  More than 250,000 students across Michigan are judged in music, dance, theater, creative writing, visual art and media arts and only 1,000 of them are invited to participate in the festival.

Mary qualified because her performance on her xylophone solo at the Michigan State Band and Orchestra Association State Solo and Ensemble contest in March was judged high enough to be invited to play percussion in the MYAF Honors Band.