Auten Road Names Outstanding Musician

sixth grader Shreyas Murali received a distinguished honor Wednesday for her musical ability.

Murali, who plays alto sax, was named the winner of the Gary T. Smith Outstanding Musicianship Award 2012 before the honors and jazz band concert. 

The award has been presented for the past four years in honor of Gary T. Smith, an instrument teacher at ARIS who taught there for 43 years.

Also nominated for the award were Andrew Gross (trombone), Alyssa Genes (flute), Carlos (CJ) Benito (trumpet), and Karan Mahesh (percussion).

Following the award presentation, the concert began with the honors band playing a variety of pieces ranging from the movie “The Blues Brothers” to show tunes from such works such as “West Side Story,” and from Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

The jazz band followed with pieces by Jerome Kern (“The Way You Look Tonight”), Benny Golson (“Killer Joe”) and ended with the Ozzy Osbourne's hit “Crazy Train.