Seaford High School's Raelyn Luft selected for possible spot in All-Eastern choir

Seaford High School senior Raelyn Luft could showcase her vocal talents on her biggest stage yet after she was selected to the All-Eastern music conference, hosted by the National Association for Music Education.

To reach All-Eastern status, as a junior, Luft required a perfect score on the New York State School Music Association exam, which consisted of singing a whole song in Italian and doing some sight-reading. She scored 100 and was offered the choice to attend All-State or All-Eastern, and took the riskier All-Eastern route, comprising singers from the entire eastern seaboard, but mainly the tri-state area.

The music conference will take place in Rochester in April. The concert consists of two full days of intensive rehearsals — the first time the singers will see any of the music they are performing — before the concert.

“I don’t know if I’m definitely going yet because I got chosen as an alternate,” Luft said. “So I’m not sure if I’m 100 percent going. But it’s such a good experience. And I’m really happy that I was considered for it.”

Luft was born in Pennsylvania, near Lake Ariel, in the area known as “The Hideout.” She moved to Seaford in fourth grade, attending Harbor Elementary School, where she learned to sing.

“I owe everything to Miss Greco, who pushed me to start singing,” Luft said, referring to Linda Greco, a now-retired music teacher from Harbor. “I probably never would have (started) without her. She pushed me to do NYSSMA, which is what gets you selected for something like All-Eastern. I’ve done it every year, with the exception of the Covid years.”

Other highlights of Luft’s singing career include involvement, since the fifth grade, in the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, based out of Manhasset, which seeks to further music students’ potential outside of school by taking them to perform in highly regarded venues.

John McNeur founded the youth orchestra in 1993, and it has grown from a 15-piece orchestra to seven orchestras and nine choirs, all based on Long Island. The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra is known for offering young singers great opportunities — most recently, it sent Luft’s peer, Angelina LaVolpe, to Italy on a singing tour last summer.

Luft also has been selected for All-County Music Festival numerous times and has landed many lead roles in Seaford’s

musicals, including playing Inga in Seaford High School’s production of “Young Frankenstein” next month.

Though her singing career was on a brief hiatus when Covid struck in her freshman year, Luft persisted through it by singing while wearing a mask. She had to learn new techniques and breath control during this time to overcome the mask, which made her an even better singer when the mask mandate was lifted last year.

Luft sings naturally as a soprano, but is versatile and can sing alternative positions — she has been selected to sing as an alto for All-Eastern.

In addition to Greco, Luft has drawn a ton of inspiration from Yvonne Bendzlowicz, the chorus teacher at the high school.

“I owe so much to Ms. B as well,” Luft said. “I couldn’t thank her enough for how much she’s pushed me — sometimes hard, but always in the best ways.”

Bendzlowicz, an accomplished musician herself, has both sung and played clarinet all over the world before she became a music teacher. This is a route Luft said she wants to follow and has looked at music education programs at colleges, such as the University of Delaware, to make that dream a reality.

“I know what the challenges are, and I know what she’s going to face,” Bendzlowicz said. “But I also know that she’s prepared and she’s ready, and that she’s going to surpass me and do bigger things. Raelyn will take those opportunities and even go further while inspiring others. She has already inspired other kids in high school to do really well, and she’ll do (an) incredible job as a music educator.”

Whether she performs at All-Easterns or not, and wherever she ends up going to college, Luft can count on Bendzlowicz remaining one of her biggest supporters.

“Singing and performing just comes so natural to her,” Bendzlowicz said. “She doesn’t get rattled by anything. And what I really love about Raelyn is how she lifts other people up — she’s not arrogant, she is very modest. But my favorite thing about her is that she makes sure no one else ever feels small, which is special considering how great she is.”