Songs and stories on Annabelle’s path

WARWICK, NY – Warwick Valley High School senior Annabelle Wadeson has been a member of the Meistersingers for three years, continuing a family tradition that started with her mother and includes both of Annabelle’s aunts and her older sister.

Annabelle, who was selected to the Area All-State Treble Choir, remembers going to her older sister Madeleine’s final Meistersingers’ concert at WVHS three years ago. Annabelle’s last concert in Warwick with the Meistersingers will be on Thursday.

“I’m going to miss the friends Meisters has given me,” Annabelle said. “It really is like a family. I love that Meistersingers gives you the opportunity to mix with people who aren’t in your class. When I was a sophomore, I had an opportunity to become friends with the seniors who I never would have interacted with.”

Annabelle said her mother’s side of the family is very musical, and for a long time her grandfather has been involved in community theater, which is where Annabelle got her start.

“I started singing when I was five, right before I went into kindergarten,” Annabelle said. “I started doing theater with my sister at Acting Out Playhouse. My first role was as a mouse in ‘Cinderella’.”

Annabelle continued with music and theater in middle school and high school. In March, she played one the street urchins in the VWHS production of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Annabelle has also helped with the Park Avenue drama club every year since the club started when she was a seventh grader.

Annabelle likes music because it is a way to express herself and to be creative. She also excels academically and is the vice president of the National Honor Society as well as the treasurer of both the Drama Club and Meistersingers.

“Annabelle embodies exactly what you find in the music department, especially the Choir program,” said WVHS music teacher and Meistersingers’ director Noreen Hanson. “Besides being a fantastic and dedicated musician, she is also well-rounded academically. Annabelle excels in all of the classes she takes. I don’t think there is an obstacle that Annabelle couldn’t overcome.”

English is Annabelle’s favorite subject in school and is what she plans to study in college. Her goal is to work in publishing as a literary editor.

“I’m going to Trinity College in Dublin to study English Literature,” said Annabelle, who hopes to sing in the choir at Trinity. “I loved their program. I went over spring break to visit the campus, and it was beautiful. I loved it. It’s right in the city.”