A Hernando High School Royale Regiment Band student has qualified as one of the top three trumpet players in the state of Florida. And for the talented Misa Viveiros, this is an encore performance.
In the wake of a successful audition, Viveiros has been selected to the 2021 Florida All-State 11th and 12th Grade Symphonic Orchestra. This marks her 5th consecutive All-State selection, administered through the Florida Music Educators Association.
“This is her fifth year in All-State Band. She’s one of the top students,” said Hernando High band director Joe Harrin. “We’re very, very proud of her.”
At age 17, Viveiros is already a musical veteran who plays the trumpet, piano, and harp.
“I’ve played the piano and harp since the second grade, and the trumpet since the fifth,” said this Brooksville resident. “When I was little, my mom played everything from classical and jazz around the house. I was exposed to all types of music, and that got me interested in playing.”
Viveiros estimates that she devotes 28 hours of every week to the practice and performance of music.
“I like to experiment with different techniques,” she said. “I practice and perform to get better.”
“To see what’s possible.”
Her many previous musical honors have included all-county and all-state honors and a performance at the University of South Florida as part of the Festival of Winds Honor Band. Even so, her audition process for this year’s 2021 Florida All-State 11th and 12th Grade Symphonic Orchestra posed special challenges.
“Every year, the audition process consists of technical, lyrical and scales, and draws hundreds of trumpet players,” she said. “This time, the audition was virtual.”
“I had to audition over an ap,” she said. “You had three tries to submit the audition.”
In previous years, Viveiros earned the opportunity to play with the All-State Orchestra in public–last participating in the 2020 Florida All-State Orchestra at the Florida Music Educators All-State Clinic and Professional Development Conference in Tampa, at the Tampa Convention Center and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, January 11, 2020.
This year, the FMEA Professional Development Conference will take the form of a virtual online experience Jan. 13-16, 2021.
“The orchestra will be performing in special master classes,” said Viveiros.
And honored students, according to the FMEA website (https://fmea.org/conference/), will receive special recognition at the virtual conference–recognition that, in the eyes of Harrin, is well-deserved.
“She is the most talented student, and self-driven since middle school,” he said. “When she works on something, academic or musical, that’s her whole focus.”
Indeed, Viveiros is a dual-enrollment student at PHSC who plans a career in engineering–with a side gig as a world-class performing musician.
“As Misa’s high school band director,” said Harrin. “I can say I was a part of all this.”
