Staff Writer

An East Springfield girl has been chosen to sing in a regional conference, an accomplishment that is music to her school's ears.

Megan Culbert, 17, is the first student from Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School to be chosen to sing in the National Association for Music Education Easter Division Conference, scheduled for March in Providence, R.I., said Susan Ethington, her music teacher.

"This is so exciting," Ethington said. "This is really amazing for us."

To qualify for the Providence conference, Culbert said she first had to earn a spot in the New York State School Music Association All-State Women's Chorus, to be held in Rochester next week. She is only the second student from CV-S to participate in that event, Ethington said.

The All-Eastern conference, which starts March 9, will feature 600 student musicians from 11 states.

"I know that there are so many people I will be singing with," Culbert said. "It's so much at a higher level than I ever thought I would have gone."

Culbert will take part in the honors ensemble mixed chorus, Ethington said. Culbert said she will practice for several days with the group and then perform for an audience, including her parents, the last day.

"I know that there are so many good people going," she said. "I know that I will learn a lot from them."

But Culbert isn't exactly new to music herself. She began singing in second grade, when she performed in a school production of "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Since then, she has taken voice lessons, attended a variety of music camps, worked with the Catskill Choral Society and performed for the Glimmerglass Opera.

"I just love to sing," said Culbert, who also takes flute and piano lessons. "I just love the feeling of working hard for something and obtaining your goals."

Culbert, a high school senior, said although she hasn't decided where she'll go to college, she plans to pursue a dual major of vocal performance and voice education.

If you have some good news you'd like to share, please call Managing Editor Cary Brunswick at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000; e-mail him at cary@thedailystar.com; fax him at 432-5707; or write to him at P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820.