Cellist Sebastian Bäverstam, the 24-year-old former child prodigy who debuted at Carnegie Hall at age 14, brought the third season of the Harker Concert Series to a brilliant close on Feb. 8, performing a special collection of Russian music from Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff to a sold-out audience.
Partnered throughout the concert by accomplished pianist Pei-Shan Lee, Bäverstam began with Prokofiev’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, moving gracefully through its contemplative and somewhat somber first movement, trading phrases with Lee as though in conversation. The brisker second and third movements evoked a more upbeat style from the cellist, who swayed and bobbed through the faster sections as the call-and-response interplay with Lee continued. His physical expressiveness seemed to mirror his similarly impassioned interpretation of the material, taking deep breaths before long legato passages and moving vigorously during the galloping, more technically challenging sections, for which he was more than up to the task. Lee handled the piece with the right amounts of aggression and restraint.
Bäverstam and Lee briefly left the stage following the conclusion of the sonata, prompting some audience members to head to the lobby for drinks and hors d’oeuvres, believing the concert to be at an intermission. The two nevertheless returned a short time later to perform Shostakovich’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, but not before Bäverstam quipped, “Sorry. It’s not over yet.”
The shifting tensions and moods of Shostakovich’s sonata were brought out wonderfully by Bäverstam’s ability to interpret the varied themes with both subtlety and flair. The wide, ominous piano passages of the first movement were met by the disquieting melody provided by Bäverstam, whose splendid vibrato powerfully buoyed every note until the disturbing calm was broken by the second movement’s urgency and energy, driven by Bäverstam and Lee’s bombastic yet controlled approach, later contrasted by the desolation and sobriety of the “Largo” movement before being brought a crashing finish in the final movement, guided by the dexterous, emotive performance of the two players.
Following the (actual) intermission, the duo returned to the stage to perform the evening’s final piece, Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, whose challenging first movement, characterized by varying tempos and moods, was superbly handled. The sonata also gave ample opportunity for Lee to demonstrate her immense talents, nimbly maneuvering her way through the piece’s more challenging sections while simultaneously finding the array of emotion underneath. Despite an exhausting program, Bäverstam and Lee had no discernible trouble summoning the energy necessary for the final run of the Sonata’s Vivace.
Many thanks to Karina Momary and Sue Prutton, who both contributed to this story.
Over the weekend of Jan. 26, 25 middle school forensics students traveled to Sacramento to compete at the National Catholic Forensics League National Tournament Qualifier. While the NCFL National Tournament is traditionally for high school students, Harker’s middle school students were still able to compete at the qualifier tournament with the understanding that they would not qualify to the tournament.
“Had our students been in high school we would have had two students qualify automatically given their records and three compete in an additional round to determine if they could qualify,” said middle school debate teacher Karina Momary. “This is an amazing accomplishment and shows the significant growth of our program in the past year as we did not have this same success at the tournament last year.”
On Jan. 11-12 the middle school forensics team traveled to Phoenix, Ariz., to compete at the Arizona State University Southwest Championship. Aditya Dhar and Alexander Lam, both grade 8, participated in Congressional Debate as the only middle school students among the 109 entrants. Lam finished in the top four in his group of 12, while Dhar finished in the top two and advanced to the Congress Finals where he received 11th place. The duo also competed in Public Forum debate together and were the only middle school team to advance to the top 32.
At a debate tournament held at College Preparatory School in Oakland on Dec 21-22, Raymond Xu, grade 11, advanced to the double octofinal round, finishing in the top 32 out of 104 students. Karan Das-Grande, grade 12, and Srikar Pyda, grade 11, made it to the quarterfinals, finishing in the top eight.
Dozens of musicians from Harker’s middle and upper schools gathered at the beautiful Mexican Heritage Theater in San Jose on Jan. 11 for this year’s Winter Concert. Musical groups from both campuses performed songs both modern and classic in a wide variety of styles.
The concert was separated into two portions, allowing students from both campuses equal time to shine. Middle school musicians, directed by Dave Hart, opened at 5 p.m. with Harker Winds performing “Bags Groove” by Milt Jackson and “Some Nights” by the pop group Fun, both arranged by the performers in the group.
Harker Strings continued with a string arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” and the holiday favorite “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” The grade 6 orchestra (made up of members from the Winds and Strings groups) then continued the performance with “Farandole” by Georges Bizet and the ever-popular theme from “Star Wars.”
Students Donna Boucher, Connie Xu, Arushee Bhoja and Catherine Wang, all grade 6, impressively performed the first of two chamber pieces showcased that evening, “Comptine D’un Autre Ete: L’Apres-Midi” by Yann Tiersen. The grade 8 duo of violinists Cuebeom Choi and May Gao then played a selection from “Duo Concertante for Two Violins” by Charles-August de Beriot.
Jazz musicians from grades 7 and 8 took the stage for a set of songs from greats such as Charles Mingus (“Boogie Bop Shuffle”) and Charlie Parker (“My Little Suede Shoes”). Finishing the middle school portion of the show was the grade 7-8 orchestra, who performed “Amazing Grace” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Greensleeves” before bringing the set to a spectacular close with the first movement of Antonín Dvořák’s “New World Symphony.”
The second half of the show featured upper school musicians , starting with the upper school Lab Band, the introductory jazz ensemble directed by Dave Hart, who performed Benny Golson’s “Blues March,” Joe Henderson’s “Recordame” (arranged by the band themselves) and “Big Dipper” by Thad Jones. The upper school jazz band, directed by Chris Florio, continued with “Launching Pad” by Clark Terry and Duke Ellington and the popular 1930s British standard “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” before bringing the house down with the Brian Setzer Orchestra’s “Jumpin’ East of Java.”
Finally, Florio led the headlining upper school orchestra in an array of selections from famed composers such as Dvořák, Tchaikovsky and Holst, bringing the concert to an exciting close with a performance of Percy Grainger’s famous reel “Molly on the Shore.”
San Jose Mercury News , Jan. 23, 2013: Paulomi Bhattacharya, grade 12, is mentioned in an article about Bay Area student finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search
San Jose Mercury News, Nov. 30, 2012: Varun Mohan, grade 11, is featured in a brief story about his exceptional performance at a recent math competition in Mexico.
San Jose Mercury News, Dec. 5, 2012: Seniors and Siemens competition regional finalists Paulomi Bhattacharya, Rohan Chandra, Zareen Choudhury and Ashvin Swaminathan are mentioned in a story about the competition in the paper’s “Around the Valley” section.
What began as a holiday seasonal community project has evolved into a larger, new schoolwide outreach program called HarKare (Harker Cares).
HarKare launched with its first project, making ornaments to accompany Christmas trees already slated to be donated from the lower, middle and upper school campuses to underprivileged families. During the holiday season Harker has Christmas trees or wreaths in nearly all of its 200 classrooms. This year, some 45 teachers volunteered to preserve their trees so they could be given out as part of the donation program.
To that end, about 40 Harker parents and children of varying ages took time out on a Sunday in December to gather for the ornament-making event, which had been earlier promoted by grade level coordinators. Using recycled paper, students in Pat Walsh’s grade 5 math class also contributed to the HarKare project by making paper hut ornaments.
“HarKare will create opportunities for kids and whole families to participate in all sorts of community projects going on all year, not just during the holiday season,” enthused Tere Aceves, lower school volunteer program director at Harker.
“This is not going to be another drive at our school but is going to be an ongoing program,” she elaborated, adding that the goal of HarKare is to create family involvement for community service projects, teach kids the value of giving and helping others and “use our creativity, elbow grease and spirits to make a difference.”
Already, HarKare members have tossed around a number of ideas for future projects including collecting clothes and household goods for those in need, preparing meals for the homeless, and helping local neighborhoods in a myriad of other ways.
“These are all very easy and really rewarding projects,” noted Aceves. “We are striving to involve our kids and teach them values coming from the heart.”
In February there will be two HarKare initiatives running nearly simultaneously: a book exchange on Feb. 8 and a volunteer effort with the organization Sea Scavenger the following day.
“Not only will Harker students give back to their community by cleaning up local waterways, but they will give back to the world by preventing plastic pollution from reaching the oceans,” said Aceves, adding that students may subsequently take on leadership roles to help create such awareness, shifting cultural values away from a disposable plastic society.
Sea Scavenger has been named the official shoreline restoration and clean-up partner of the 34th annual America’s Cup, which takes place in San Francisco this year. Together, with Sea Scavenger volunteers, HarKare participants will work collaboratively with sailors and staff from the America’s Cup teams in support of marine ecosystems.
Those interested in becoming involved with the upcoming book exchange, shoreline clean-up, and other future activities of the new HarKare program are urged to contact Aceves at terea@harker.org for more information.
Harker’s 10th annual fashion show is just around the corner: Mission: Possible – Dare to Try! For life to have any degree of adventure, joy, satisfaction and challenge, we must take risks. So in this 10th year, there seems no better time to challenge our conventional ways!
THE LIVE AUCTIONS
An exciting change this year is our short, fun auction during lunch. The traditional dinner auction will have some never-before-seen items that will blow you away. And our favorite auctioneer from previous years, Damon Casatico, is back to help encourage you in your bidding.
THE SHOW
We have a new opportunity for donors called Sponsor a Segment. The money raised here will go directly to the budget of the show in the form of lights, video and costumes. For $2,500 you will receive a full color page in our program (valued at $900), two tickets to the show (valued at $350), and your name or company will be promoted at the start or ending of a segment in the lunch and dinner show. There are also some additional benefits; please call us for details.
THE LOBBY
Why go to Vegas when you can enjoy our full-blown lobby casino? Try your luck at winning one of the many showcases featuring all kinds of cool prizes. And there will be a lounge, photographer, a couple of bars (non-alcoholic for lunch) and a few other interesting surprises.
THE SPONSORS
We want to thank in advance our sponsors, especially the “first movers” who have really put us on track to having a very special and successful show. This year we’ve introduced a premiere-seating program: Gold Sponsors get the best seats in the house, Silver, next best and so on. Sponsors and future sponsors, thanks again!
THE VOLUNTEERS
Set up. Makeup and hair. Logistics. There’s so much to do! But we have a small army of volunteers willing and able to get the job done. If you are interested, you’re more than welcome to join our team; two or 20 hours, it’s up to you. And if you just want to see what’s going on, RSVP to one of our monthly meetings.
GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY!
Fair warning … with record tryouts, more models and the overall buzz, this will definitely be a sold out show for both lunch and dinner. Get your tickets early!
THE WEBSITE
The Harker Fashion Show website covers every aspect of the show: model information, upcoming dates, volunteers, sponsorships, tickets, etc. It’s like one-stop shopping for information!
Harker hosted nearly 500 families from the greater Bay Area for an all-day forum in December designed for families of gifted children.
Operated by the Scholar Search Association, which was founded in 2009 by Patsy Kumekawa, the Educational Forums for Gifted Student Families events have now been held in dozens of cities across the country, including the one recently hosted by Harker. “We hope that we are helping kindred spirits to find one another so that they may share their experiences and ideas, support each other’s efforts and revel in the excitement of discovery and of thought,” Kumekawa explained.
Designed for families with gifted students grades 3-12, the events are free and include presentations and workshops, as well as sessions for students. Each event is structured like an educational seminar, and parents and students explore pertinent concepts of the educational process with qualified presenters who deal directly with these issues every day. “They also offer students (and parents) a chance to be engaged with kindred spirits in small interactive sessions,” Kumekawa added. “Through these discussions and sessions, one can gain considerable food for thought from people with significant expertise in their fields.”
In addition to hosting the event, Harker faculty, staff and students contributed to the event’s success. A panel on leadership, moderated by Greg Lawson, assistant head of school for student affairs, included upper school seniors Maverick McNealy, Tiphaine Delepine, Simar Mangat and Apricot Tang, as well as Harker parent P.V. Kannan (Sandhana, grade 9), discussing the definition and importance of leadership. Student workshops were presented by faculty members Karina Momary (debate) and Eileen Schick (Singapore Math), and more than a dozen student volunteers helped as guides the day of the event.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Parents Alan Zhang and Lucy Li (Bryan Zhang, grade 4) joined Ram and Ana Duraiswamy (Ashley, grade 5; Kevin, grade 11), along with other Harker parents, for a lovely evening held at the home of Rajeev and Geetha Madhavan on Oct. 18 in Atherton. The Madhavans (Meera, grade 12; Maya, grade 11) hosted the gathering which featured updates on the pending purchase of the Union Avenue campus and the planned addition of a gym and theater complex on the Saratoga campus. The night’s activities also included several pieces performed by an upper school string quartet.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
Highlighted in this issue of Harker Quarterly are three generous Harker families who helped take science and technology programming to the next level – with leading donations of one million dollars or more.
The Jain Family
Following a distinguished career in technology, Dr. Navin Jain retired in 1993, with the goal of spending more time with his family and pursuing new levels of spiritual growth. That very year, reflective of his altruistic lifestyle, he and his wife, Madhu, became the first visionary benefactors in Harker’s Cornerstones Campaign to initiate the school’s K-12 expansion.
Today, the Jain Technology Center in Nichols Hall is a treasured resource that capped off years of support from the Jains via both financial gifts and volunteer hours.
Further channeling his passions and expertise, Navin Jain has served as a member of the Harker Board of Trustees and the Parent Technology Advisory Committee. Madhu Jain, meanwhile, has been a familiar face in parent volunteering, helping with classroom support, school pictures, and special events including Grandparents’ Day and the annual fashion show. The Jains’ daughter, Nalini ’10, was an active participant in the Harker journalism program and currently attends the University of Pennsylvania.
Eric Nelson, Harker’s computer science department chair, said he appreciates having rooms designed specifically for computer science education with appropriate electrical wiring and desk design, which allows faculty to focus on the material. Having an entire department dedicated to the subject of computer science is not commonplace among high schools; in fact, he noted that computer science was not even a choice on a recent national survey asking in which department computer science was taught.
The Ringold Family
Gordon and Tanya Ringold were integral participants in the launch of the upper school, serving on the campaign committee and speaking in promotional videos on behalf of Harker parents. The two have always placed great value on the well-rounded educational approach of Harker and wanted to help take the school’s formal research program beyond that of any other high school in the area.
The Ringold Research Center in Nichols Hall provides space for many long-term projects within the research methods class as well as the open lab after-school program, where students are currently advised by a team of 15 science teachers. Anita Chetty, science department chair, is proud to share that this state-of-the-art facility boasts college-level equipment such as a gas chromatograph and a spectrophotometer.
“As our boys became part of the Harker family,” noted Tanya Ringold, “I also wanted to participate in this wonderful community. I enjoyed working as a room parent for a number of years and then joined the Parent Development Council, where I found the increasing generosity of our families a truly rewarding experience.”
Gordon Ringold, who serves as the director for the Silicon Valley Initiatives program at the University of California, Santa Cruz, continues to support the career development of Harker’s science students through mentoring and internship leads in the field of biotechnology. The Ringolds’ sons, Alex ’10 and Gregg ’07, both went on to continue their outstanding Harker baseball careers at their respective colleges, Occidental and the University of California, San Diego.
The Pawlowski Family
Even knowing that their own child would not be on campus to enjoy the new amenities, the Pawlowski family decided to give a substantial donation just prior to their son, Nic ’02, graduating. Their appreciation for Harker and its teachers is now reflected in the Pawlowski Chemistry Center.
Upper school chemistry teacher Andrew Irvine is glad to be sharing one building with his department peers and using all new facilities. “We can coordinate better with lessons and check in to see what our colleagues are doing, helping us develop more dynamic and interesting lesson plans,” he said.
Brian Pawlowski and his wife, Aki, took an early lead in the Senior Parent Appreciation giving program, and Brian Pawlowski’s continued support as a mentor in computer science has led to several memorable experiences for students lucky enough to visit the research and development labs with him at NetApp.
Thanks to the gifts of Harker families like those featured here, outstanding science and technology facilities have been offered within Nichols Hall for years. Now, looking forward, a state-of-the-art gym and theater complex will also go a long way towards preparing Harker students to enter their future colleges and workplaces with competence, confidence and enthusiasm for lifelong learning.
This story recently appeared in the winter 2012 edition of Harker Quarterly.
This past fall, The Harker School and its Board of Trustees hosted an elegant evening reception honoring the Board of Fellows. Held in the historic Saratoga residence of John and Michelle Keller (Devin, grade 5; Haley, grade 7; Johnathon, grade 9; Michael ‘07), the Oct. 2 gathering heralded the first official meeting of the Board of Fellows.
The Harker Board of Fellows convenes twice a year for official gatherings where they discuss important initiatives and topics relevant to Harker.
The Board of Fellows is chaired by Albert “Chip” Zecher ’79, Harker alumnus and trustee. Serving on Harker’s Board of Fellows are Tamra Amick, Ken Azebu, Shyamoli Banerjee, Tina Bean, Curtis Cage, Winston Chen, Becky Cox, Christine Douglas, John Keller, Susan Mandell, Linda Sabeh, Archana Sathaye, Irene Silvestri and David Takamoto. Additional Fellows will be added this year and will be appointed for a three-year term.
Harker has long recognized individuals who are supporters of Harker and who provide the community with invaluable advice and resources. According to Zecher, the role of a Fellow is to promote the Harker mission with the knowledge that the provision of an outstanding education for today’s youth will guarantee the success of our community tomorrow.
“We are exceedingly fortunate to have such a diverse group of Fellows, each of whom brings to the Board a particular talent and know-how. Our Board of Fellows is here to help ensure that vital strategic initiatives are accomplished. I am particularly thrilled to be a part of this team,” he said.
During the Board of Fellows meeting at the Keller home, time was spent reviewing Harker’s student involvements and achievements over the summer. Fellows were also updated on the school’s strategic priorities as recommended by a recent accreditation process.
Built in 1920, the Kellers’ Tudor revival is listed on the Saratoga Heritage Resources Inventory and was designed by renowned architect Julia Morgan. In fact, it was the second largest private home she designed after Hearst Castle. One of the home’s original owners, Henrietta Goodrich, was a poet. As a token of their appreciation for the gracious hosting of the event, the Board of Fellows presented the Kellers with a framed photo of Goodrich’s poem “Homecoming.”