State Senator Patty Ritchie recently hosted the Carthage Central High School Jazz Ensemble and Camerata Singers to Albany, where they held a performance as part of "Music in Our Schools Month."

It is the fifth straight year the students qualified for the event, which is held in the Empire State Plaza Concourse adjacent to the Capitol building.

In addition to performing several songs, the students were able to meet with Senator Ritchie and Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush of Black River, tour the legislative buildings and attend both the Senate and Assembly sessions.

 (In the photo above, Senator Ritchie (in the middle) stands with Assemblyman Kenneth Blankenbush, the Carthage Central High School Camerata Singers directed by Marvin Zehr and the Jazz Ensemble directed by Jennifer Waterhouse at the Empire State Plaza Concourse near the Capitol.)