A Killingly High School music student has been selected to sing in the 2019 All-National Honor Ensembles in Orlando, Fla., in November.

Joliana Reynolds, a junior, had to earn a spot in Connecticut Eastern Regional Choir and the Connecticut All-State Choir in order to be eligible for the national event, which is hosted by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). The ensemble will include symphony, jazz, mixed choir and guitar music and will be held from Nov. 7 to 10.

"I think it’s just really exciting to be able to perform with such a high level of musicians and I’m really excited to travel and to meet people from all over the country," Reynolds told the Bulletin.

Reynolds has worked hard to get there. She says she spends three hours a day practicing and rehearsing.

"That’s just a normal day," she said.

In other words, that’s on top of any time she spends studying music for class or rehearsing with other students after school. Reynolds, who is an alto, is involved in multiple music programs in the school, including the chamber choir, the symphonic band, the jazz band the spring musical, and the concert choir, for which she is an officer. Reynolds is also taking AP music theory.

"I just like music in general. I find that I feel at home when I’m singing," Reynolds said. She added that singing can be an emotional outlet when "life is not the greatest."

Her music teacher, Mike Carnaroli, said Reynolds is the first student he’s had in his 11 years as a music teacher — including almost four in Killingly — to make it to the national ensemble.

"It’s a tremendous honor for me as a teacher," Carnaroli said. "I’m really proud of her — her dedication and the grit and time commitment that it’s taken for her to do this."

Reynolds, in turn, credits Carnaroli with playing a major role in helping her. "He has been almost like a father to me," she said. "He’s been a really amazing teacher."

She added that he "has given me opportunities to use music to express myself," which she said she will be "forever grateful for."

Local residents who may not be able to make it to Florida will have a chance to hear Reynolds singing beforehand, at the school veterans concert, which will be held 7 p.m. Nov. 6 in the school auditorium.

Reynolds says she is considering a double major in college, studying psychology and music, for a potential career as either a therapist or a music teacher. The latter option, she said, is inspired by Carnaroli. In becoming a music teacher she said she wanted to be able to do for other people what Carnaroli has done for her.