Friday, February 13, 2009 By Carlisle Wilkinson
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Whether it's the arts, athletics or academics, Stone Bridge is well known for putting out stars. This year, three students made it through to the final audition of a summer program called Virginia Governor's School, which specializes in the arts. The students are Aniqa Iqbal, Kaci Baggott, and Nick Gagliano.
Iqbal, sophomore, is a percussionist who started when she was in the sixth grade. For the auditions, she had to play the snare drum and the marimba.
"I started early compared to most percussionists, which I think really paid off," Iqbal said.
As a skilled musician, she also plays the guitar and the piano.
Another sophomore, Gagliano is an aspiring actor, who got his start thinking it would give him an easy grade. "For a class grade everyone had to try out for the play, so obviously i did it." Gagliano said. "I was cast in my first show 'Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind', which later went on to win Liberty Districts and tie for a spot at Regionals."
His unexpected success then led him to be a regular in the school's production, "Ever since I have been plugging and chugging away in as many shows as I can."
For his audition, Gagliano did a dramatic piece which he says he can, "relate more to serious matters".
In order to audition for Governor's school, a student must be either and sophomore or a junior.
Baggott, who is a junior this year tried out for the second time. First time she almost made it through as an alternate. "I hope my chances will be better this year as a junior," Baggott said.
As a dancer, it takes a lot of skill, hard work and practice to perfect, "I been dancing since i was nine years old."
When asked if she would keep dancing after high school, "I'm not sure if i want to dance in college yet but i definitely want it to be in my future at some point."
Each audition consists of a solo piece, 2 for musicians, a prepared piece and a sight read piece, and in interview with one of the teachers. The summer program lasts about a month during the summer, where the students will spend the night, similar to a camp.
These three will not find out if they got excepted until the end of March.