On March 17, the Harker performing arts department held its United Voices concert at the Blackford Theater. This annual event brings together vocal groups from the lower, middle and upper school campuses for a memorable night of melody and harmony.
The lower school was represented by the Bucknall Choir, featuring singers in grades 4-5. Middle school groups included the grade 6 choir Dynamics, the upbeat grade 7-8 musical theater group Harmonics and the grade 7-8 concert choir Vivace. From the upper school were Bel Canto, vocal jazz group Acoustics, Camerata, the advanced women’s choir Cantilena and the Downbeat show choir.
For the finale, all of the evening’s performers gathered onstage for a massive ensemble performance of Karl Jenkins’ “Adiemus.”
India.com, March 29, 2016 — A review of the “Family Party” film, which features Harker alumni Vishal Vaidya ’15, Rahul Nalamasu ’13, Jai Ahuja ’15 and Cecilia Lang-Ree ’13
India West, March 25, 2016 — A news story about the film “Family Party,” which was recently acquired by Netflix.
The latest Harker Longform goes in-depth about the Harker Research Symposium, which in the last decade has become an important piece of Harker’s research program. Click to continue!
Photographer, explorer, author and filmmaker Denis Belliveau visited Harker on March 22 as the final guest of the 2015-16 Harker Speaker Series season. Using photographs and his unique storytelling ability, he gave the audience a 40-minute summary of his two-year journey to retrace the legendary travels of explorer Marco Polo. This story was told in the 2008 documentary “In the Footsteps of Marco Polo” and later in a book by the same name.
Before explaining why he decided to traverse the path Marco Polo traveled more than 700 years ago, Belliveau briefly discussed Polo’s life. Polo was the son and nephew of Venetian merchants who left Venice for Asia before he was born. Upon returning to Venice, the two merchants met the teenage Marco for the first time and set off again for Asia, this time with Marco in tow.
Polo’s stories of his travels would later become what Belliveau called “the first travel book.” He explained that Marco Polo was the first to leave behind a detailed account of his time in Asia, inspiring many later explorers, including Christopher Columbus. “His personal story reads like a fairy tale,” Belliveau remarked.
In 1992, which marked the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ voyage to North America, Belliveau and fellow traveler Francis O’Donnell observed that many were retracing Columbus’ journey, which they dismissed as boring. “You spend six weeks at sea and then you’re in the Caribbean,” he said.
They realized that 1995 would be the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo’s return to Venice, and began discussing the prospect of retracing his 15,000-mile trek through Asia and back. It turned out that many attempts at a similar journey had been made in the last several decades, but none had been successful.
Belliveau recapped the journey through select photographs he took while traveling. In one slide, he showed the audience a woodcut of Marco Polo returning to his home in Venice, saying he’d hoped to find this same place in his travels. The next slide showed a photograph of the home, with many features still preserved, including the cross above the archway that formed the front door.
While in Israel, Belliveau and O’Donnell visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Marco Polo journeyed to at the request of Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan. There, Belliveau gained entrance by consulting the family in charge of opening the main gate. The same family has maintained this arrangement for eight centuries, he explained.
To get across Afghanistan safely, the two travelers had to make arrangements with the Mujahideen, the guerilla military outfits that fought against the Soviet Union. Their group was ambushed the Hazaras and they were held for several hours before being allowed to travel again. Eventually they made their way to the famous Wakhan Corridor en route to China.
Following his talk, Belliveau answered questions from the audience and signed copies of the book that accompanied his film, which can be viewed in its entirety at www.thestepsofpolo.org.
The program began with Joseph Haydn’s “String Quartet Op. 64, No. 6 in E-Flat Major.” The opening movement’s sweet, flowing melodies made one wonder why this particular piece was, as second violinist Rachel Shapiro called it, “one of the lesser-performed works of his opus 64 set.” First violinist Nicholas Tavani seemed to be enjoying himself on stage. On more than one occasion, while deftly finding his way through Haydn’s winding melodies, he could be seen nearly removing himself from his seat.
The jaunt of the first movement was contrasted by the slow, delicate harmonies of the second – that is, before a sudden and stressed change of tempo added a sense of urgency to an otherwise peaceful proceeding. Aeolus’ ability to show both restraint and abandon was just one sign of the group’s musical maturity.
Shapiro described the fourth movement as “a lot of fun to play,” and it was easy to see why. Its reel-like pacing and infectious melodies seem as joyful to play as they are to hear. Challenging though it was, the young musicians never appeared to be performing for the purpose of displaying their formidable chops.
Bela Bartok’s “String Quartet No. 2” provided a counterbalance to Haydn’s joyous aplomb. Written during the horror of World War I, its dense, dreary and disjointed structure felt as though it was modeled after the chaos that surrounded its creation. As Tavani explained to the audience, the piece relies on heavy use of the minor third interval, which lent a sense of anxiety and dread to its three movements.
Frayed and frantic, the work’s second movement was a highlight of the evening. Its ever-changing pace was punctuated with intervallic leaps and tempo changes. Were it not for Aeolus’ virtuosity and vision, it may have fallen apart at any moment.
As Aeolus launched into Dvorak’s “String Quartet Op. 105 in A-Flat Major,” the mood in the auditorium shifted from dour to triumphant. In a lengthy explanation prior to the performance, violist Gregory Luce explained that the piece was written toward the end of the composer’s life, and expresses “the feeling of coming home after a long journey.” Indeed, it was easy to imagine the first movement playing as someone arrives home after a tour abroad, greeting old friends and familiar faces.
Things moved from excited to regal for the second movement, which maintained a ballroom-friendly waltz for most of its duration. It was here that the quartet seemed most at ease, allowing Dvorak’s brilliance to carry them along. Following the soft stroll of the third movement (Aeolus had more than once proved itself skillful at shifting gears), the quartet moved through the hurried intro to the fourth movement, which gave cellist Alan Richardson the chance to take the spotlight for a few moments. Jumping from pastoral nostalgia to fleet-fingered flights of fancy, it showcased Aeolus’ talents perhaps more suitably than any of the evening’s previous pieces. A fitting choice for a closer.
Harker Quarterly, the school’s magazine, earned the 2016 bronze award for independent school magazine from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education in its District VII Awards of Excellence. The magazine, which showcases news, programs and inspiring people in the Harker community, is produced by the Office of Communication. The publication, which was introduced in December 2009, earned CASE’s silver award in 2011, and won platinum awards in 2013 and 2015 from the prestigious Marcom Awards.
Los Altos Town Crier, Feb. 24 – Senior Anthony Luo is mentioned in a story about Presidential Scholar candidates from Los Altos.
Cross Country Express, Feb. 14 – Niki Iyer, grade 11, is mentioned in a post about notable performances from that weekend.
The Press Democrat, Feb. 11 – Seniors Johnathon Keller and Trenton Thomas, juniors Saketh Gurram and Will Park, sophomores Nate Kelly, Anthony Contreras, Jadan McDermott, James Pauli and Jalen Clark, and freshman Demonte Aleem were all named Redwood Empire All-League selections for the fall sports season.
Shenzhen Daily, Feb. 3 – Harker is mentioned in a story about a U.S. physics competition.
El Observador, Jan. 29 – Senior Jonathan Ma, an Intel Science Talent Search Finalist, is mentioned in a story about the Intel finalists from Santa Clara County.
This year’s “One Team, One Dream” Night on the Town Gala got off and running earlier this evening in the United Club at Levi’s Stadium, home of this year’s Super Bowl. More than 300 attendees enjoyed a fun-filled evening of great food, a casino, dancing and more. Fittingly, Harker’s athletics programs were a major focus of the celebration, which was held largely to benefit Harker’s general endowment.
Throughout the evening, photos of Harker alumni who currently play sports at the collegiate level were shown on dozens of screens around the room. Sponsors were honored by having their names displayed on the stadium’s screens, ribbon board and scoreboard.
One of the highlights of the event was an entertaining “Chalk Talk” video in which Chris Nikoloff, head of school, played the straight man to chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine’s upbeat, motivational sports coach. Nikoloff stood at the podium delivering a diplomatic, salesman-like speech extolling the virtues of the new buildings, which Irvine translated into an invigorating pep talk, with uproarious results.
This year’s silent auction had attendees bidding for prizes such as concert tickets, jewelry, a cruise, Disneyland passes and VIP packages to Harker events including the Harvest Festival and upper school graduation ceremony. Attendees also saw an exhilarating performance by the Harker cheerleaders and captured their memories of the night at the photo opportunity area.
Violinist Jessica Lee and pianist Reiko Uchida teamed up for a crowd-pleasing night Feb. 19 at this season’s second Harker Concert Series performance, which featured the works of composers from a variety of eras.
As the first piece of the evening began, Lee stood still with her instrument at her side while Uchida marched through the solemn opening chords. A slow uplift gave way to a weepy melody, accentuated by Lee’s superb vibrato and interpretive clarity. Their interplay soon drifted into a jaunt of arpeggios, tempo changes and volume swells. Lee’s and Uchida’s mastery of tone and technique served them well through these challenging sections, maintaining astonishing accuracy without losing the emotional impact. This was most apparent just past the midway point of the piece, with Lee’s melodies sweeping across the tapestry created by Uchida’s colorful piano work.
Sergei Prokofiev’s “Five Melodies” – “beautiful little jewels,” as Lee called them – began with a plaintive melody and chords that were written in sunny California but sounded more akin to a rainy day. Lee’s animated, dramatic interpretation lent a kind of imagery to Prokofiev’s melodies. The busy second movement brought to mind a busy city street, perhaps the kind the composer encountered while in 1920s Los Angeles. Speaking of busy, the frantic and anguished third movement called back to a Prokofiev quote Lee cited just before the piece began: “I am as ecstatic about California as it is about me.”
Lee prefaced her performance of Leoš Janáček’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano” with a personal anecdote about her visit to the composer’s home in the Czech countryside. The piece, she said, contained “explosive fragments,” a result of Janáček’s interest in speech patterns, the various inflections of which found their way into this particular piece. Certainly, the piece often played out like a heated conversation between various parties, shifting moods, coming in fits and starts. It was unconventional material, rhythmically challenging and thematically complex, but Lee and Uchida were up to the task. The transition from the anxiety-fraught first movement to the more organized, daydream-like “Balada: con moto” was no trouble at all.
The pleasant, strident melodies of Beethoven’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano in Major” welcomed the audience back from the intermission, Lee and Uchida going back and forth with delightful flurries and strolling melodies before drifting into the thoughtful and reflective adagio. Though Lee’s violin was center stage, Uchida shined in the space provided with her steady rhythms and playful interpretation.
Ever the entertainer, Lee elected to close the evening with Pablo de Sarasate’s “Introduction and Tarantella,” displaying the not only the technical ability of both musicians, but also their flair for theatrics, sending a very appreciative crowd smiling into the drizzly evening. But not before stopping in the atrium for an autographed CD.
Nate Kelly, grade 10 was named offensive co-MVP and classmate Anthony Contreras, was named defensive co-MVP. Four Harker students were named to the first team: Demonte Aleem, grade 9; Johnathon Keller, grade 12; Jadan McDermott, grade 10; and James Pauli, grade 10. Four more were named to the second team: Jalen Clark, grade 10; Saketh Gurram, grade 11; Will Park, grade 11; and Trenton Thomas, grade 12. Congrats to all for a record season and for these honors!