The first installment of the Harker Concert Series of 2011, held in early March, featured the MarcOlivio Duo, composed of violinists Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff, playing a blend of crushing, heartbreaking and even carnivalesque Eastern European folks songs, art music, and a parody of Mozart’s work.
The MarcOlivia Duo has performed around the world, appearing on radio and television in North America, Europe and Asia, winning Fulbright fellowships, and enjoying a residency at the Tokyo College of Music. On March 9, however, they came to Nichols Auditorium and the audience, feted with sushi and wine, was treated to tunes adapted for two violins.
The concert began with a number of compositions by Béla Bartók, a 20th-century Hungarian composer who traveled through Eastern Europe, listening to and transcribing the folk songs of village communities before they disappeared and melted into a homogeneous global culture. Most of these numbers were short and sudden – thirty seconds of powerful, tragic, arresting, halting, despairing, jagged strikes, followed by ten second fearsomely frenetic and jubilant conclusions. Some were songs of Romanian bagpipes transliterated for violins; others mixed bittersweet reaching and trudging marches with maddeningly twisting, spiraling slashes.
After the most powerful numbers, the audience was paralyzed in frozen silence for several seconds before applauding, digesting the works. The concert finished, however, on somewhat of a lighter note: a blend of a parody and an ode to Mozart’s music, as the two performers wove through a number of his pieces, even using voice and whistling to mimic other instruments.
The Harker Concert Series continues with the Taylor Eigsti Trio March 25 and Areon Flutes, a Bay Area-based flute quartet, at Nichols Auditorium on May 27.
The first installment of the Harker Concert Series of 2011, held in early March, featured the MarcOlivio Duo, composed of violinists Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff, playing a blend of crushing, heartbreaking and even carnivalesque Eastern European folks songs, art music, and a parody of Mozart’s work.
The MarcOlivia Duo has performed around the world, appearing on radio and television in North America, Europe and Asia, winning Fulbright fellowships, and enjoying a residency at the Tokyo College of Music. On March 9, however, they came to Nichols Auditorium and the audience, feted with sushi and wine, was treated to tunes adapted for two violins.
The concert began with a number of compositions by Béla Bartók, a 20th-century Hungarian composer who traveled through Eastern Europe, listening to and transcribing the folk songs of village communities before they disappeared and melted into a homogeneous global culture. Most of these numbers were short and sudden – thirty seconds of powerful, tragic, arresting, halting, despairing, jagged strikes, followed by ten second fearsomely frenetic and jubilant conclusions. Some were songs of Romanian bagpipes transliterated for violins; others mixed bittersweet reaching and trudging marches with maddeningly twisting, spiraling slashes.
After the most powerful numbers, the audience was paralyzed in frozen silence for several seconds before applauding, digesting the works. The concert finished, however, on somewhat of a lighter note: a blend of a parody and an ode to Mozart’s music, as the two performers wove through a number of his pieces, even using voice and whistling to mimic other instruments.
The Harker Concert Series continues with the Taylor Eigsti Trio March 25 and Areon Flutes, a Bay Area-based flute quartet, at Nichols Auditorium on May 27.
The first installment of the Harker Concert Series of 2011, held in early March, featured the MarcOlivio Duo, composed of violinists Marc Ramirez and Olivia Hajioff, playing a blend of crushing, heartbreaking and even carnivalesque Eastern European folks songs, art music, and a parody of Mozart’s work.
The MarcOlivia Duo has performed around the world, appearing on radio and television in North America, Europe and Asia, winning Fulbright fellowships, and enjoying a residency at the Tokyo College of Music. On March 9, however, they came to Nichols Auditorium and the audience, feted with sushi and wine, was treated to tunes adapted for two violins.
The concert began with a number of compositions by Béla Bartók, a 20th-century Hungarian composer who traveled through Eastern Europe, listening to and transcribing the folk songs of village communities before they disappeared and melted into a homogeneous global culture. Most of these numbers were short and sudden – thirty seconds of powerful, tragic, arresting, halting, despairing, jagged strikes, followed by ten second fearsomely frenetic and jubilant conclusions. Some were songs of Romanian bagpipes transliterated for violins; others mixed bittersweet reaching and trudging marches with maddeningly twisting, spiraling slashes.
After the most powerful numbers, the audience was paralyzed in frozen silence for several seconds before applauding, digesting the works. The concert finished, however, on somewhat of a lighter note: a blend of a parody and an ode to Mozart’s music, as the two performers wove through a number of his pieces, even using voice and whistling to mimic other instruments.
The Harker Concert Series continues with the Taylor Eigsti Trio March 25 and Areon Flutes, a Bay Area-based flute quartet, at Nichols Auditorium on May 27.
The second installment of the Harker Concert Series brought the Taylor Eigsti Trio to the stage at Nichols Auditorium on March 25. Eigsti, the 26-year-old jazz piano phenom and Grammy nominee who started leading bands as early as age 12, was joined on this evening by bassist Reuben Rogers, a collaborator with Wynton Marsalis and Roy Hargrove, among others, and drummer Colin McDaniel, 19, a fellow at the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific.
The trio began the first of their two sets with an instrumental interpretation of Sachal Vasandani’s “Please Mr. Ogilvy,” and would perform a diverse mix of covers and Eigsti’s own works as the show progressed. Eigsti’s dexterity was apparent from the outset, but his technical ability was very nearly overshadowed by his expressive syncopation and note choice. Rarely was this illustrated better than in the trio’s rendition of Mussorgsky’s “Promenade” from “Pictures at an Exhibition,” quite possibly the highlight of the first set. At first blush an odd choice of song for a jazz concert, the beloved piece sounded right at home in the trio’s capable hands, as did their cover of Coldplay’s “Daylight.”
What impressed about Eigsti more than anything, however, was the deft sense of placement. Be it a blistering chromatic run, a rapid succession of octaves or even a flurry of closed fists banging against the keyboard, every technique in Eigsti’s vast arsenal was wisely chosen and never overused.
As a special treat, Harker’s own Dave Hart, the middle school music teacher and trumpeter who formed a childhood band with Eigsti, was welcomed onstage to perform Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way” with the band during the second set. Although visibly humbled by the gesture, Hart effused confidence during his extended, skillful improvisations.
Through it all, Eigsti made sure that the talents of his bandmates were as much a part of the show as the marquee name. Rogers’ many solos showcased his astonishing grasp of both theory and feel, and the interplay between him and Eigsti was always a joy to watch. Likewise, the young McDaniel seems destined for great things, his work behind the kit tasteful, layered and, yes, mature.
In the biggest collaboration yet among Harker vocal groups, ensembles from all three campuses gathered at a packed Blackford Theater on March 18 for this year’s United Voices concert.
Community was a major emphasis for this installment of the show. In order to give all classes the chance to see one another perform, a twist on the traditional technical run-through was held before the show took place: the performers sat in the audience instead of backstage. The performers also enjoyed a pasta dinner, where students from all campuses mingled with one another. Several upper school girls also assisted the lower school choir performers with their hair and wardrobe.
Vivace, directed by Dave Hart and featuring singers from grades 7 and 8, kicked off the show with Antonio Vivaldi’s “Laudamas Te” and Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “One Note Samba.” The group made three more appearances on stage that evening singing a variety of works, including traditional folk songs from Korea and Japan, as well as “Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin. One number had them team up with the grade 7 and 8 group Harmonics for a special performance of the Beatles’ “Blackbird.”
Representing the lower school was the Bucknall Choir, made up of grade 4 and 5 students who were directed by Jennifer Cowgill. They sang “Red Dragonflies” by Kosaku Yamada, as well as the traditional Russian Yiddish piece “Turn Balalaika.” Special accompaniment was provided by Paul Woodruff on piano and Toni Woodruff on violin.
The first of the upper school groups to perform was Camerata, directed by Susan Nace, singing “Adieu, Sweet Amaryllis.” Bel Canto, directed by Catherine Snider and featuring juniors Alex Najibi on violin and the group’s accompanist, Ramya Rangan, on piano, then sang a beautiful arrangement of the traditional song “Shenandoah.”
Cantilena, Nace’s all-female group, performed the Native American-inspired soundscape “Watane,” which featured percussion, wind chimes and other atmospheric touches.
Roxann Hagemeyer directed the Grade 6 choir, who sang Susan Thrift’s “Antiphony Kyrie” before breaking into the energetic performances of “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop” and “Feel the Beat,” driven by infectiously upbeat choreography.
Harmonics, directed by middle school music teachers Monica Colletti and Hagemeyer, performed a spirited, animated medleys of 1960s classics, which included such cultural standards as “Dancing in the Street,” “The Loco-Motion” and “Twist and Shout.”
Prior to the show’s final number, the upper school’s Downbeat, directed by Snider and Laura Lang-Ree, delivered a rich and moving version of Paul Simon’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” after which all of the groups who performed that evening assembled on the stage for the last song. Following some thankful words from Lang-Ree to the parents and administration, Cowgill led the gathering of more than 175 students in singing a modern arrangement of the traditional English folk song “The Water is Wide,” a truly momentous performance that for the first time captured so many voices from all three campuses singing in harmony together. United, indeed!
The spring 2011 edition of the Harker Quarterly magazine is in the mail and online. This issue features Harker’s upcoming summer program offerings, highlights from our recent fashion show event, and the community conversations on “Race to Nowhere” and student life/work balance. The digital version of the Quarterly can be accessed on our home page at www.harker.org. For more information, contact communications@harker.org.
Published four times a year, the Harker Quarterly showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community.
A dozen schools sent students to Harker in mid-March for the California Regional Certamen, the qualifying certamen (quiz bowl) event for the California Junior Classical League (CJCL) State Convention.
The event, held in Dobbins, the gym and Main hall, went well and five Harker teams, three middle school and two upper school, teams competed. All three middle school teams (MS1, MS2, MS3) amassed the most points in their divisions and thus each seeded first for the semifinal rounds to be held in April at the state convention. MS1 comprised Sean Costello, Aditya Dhar, Alexander Lam, Venkat Sankar, Arjun Subramaniam, Austin Tuan, all grade 6; MS2 was Rishabh Chandra, Kaushik Sankar, Elisabeth Siegel, Allison Wang, all grade 7; MS3 was Zabin Bashar, Aadyot Bhatnagar, Maya Nandakumar, Rasika Raghavan, all grade 8.
In upper school results, Harker’s HSAdv (advanced) team finished first in its level and our HS3 team finished third in its level, both qualifying for the state level with high seeds. HSAdv comprised Jessica Lin, Alex Hsu, both grade 11; Richard Fan, Nik Datuashvili and Pranav Sharma, all grade 10. HS3 was sophomore Ram Menon and freshmen Kevin Duraiswamy and Nikhil Dilip. The top nine students in each level will compete in a semifinal round at the CJCL Convention April 8-9 at Miramonte High School in Orinda. The final round will consist of the top three remaining of those nine.
On March 11, Harker teachers headed to the Head Royce School in Oakland to participate in the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) Northern Regional Meeting. Faculty and staff took the day to learn and share with other schools in an effort to continuously improve the quality of service offered at Harker. Below is a sampling of some of the talks given by Harker instructors.
Upper school mathematics teachers Troy Thiele and Mary Mortlock presented “Teens Drive Badly? You Should Check Out Their Parents!” Their talk described how a real issue with driver behaviors at Harker led to a hands-on learning experience for its statistics students, who were able to use all aspects of the statistical problem-solving process while helping make their school community a safer place.
Middle school performing arts lead teacher Monica Colletti presented “Meeting ‘Em Where They’re At: Video Technology to Enhance Student Presentations.” Colletti showed how using the most recent technology in her acting class not only produced more effective presentations, but also enhanced creativity and resulted in more dedicated performers.
Lower school teachers Heidi Gough, Katherine Hammond and Lisa Diffenderfer presented “Learning Management Systems for Primary School Students,” in which they showed the educational possibilities offered by online learning management tools like OpenClassroom and Moodle.
Harker librarians Meredith Cranston, Kathy Clark, Bernie Morrissey and Lauri Vaughan presented “Creating a Community of Readers at Your School.” The group shared its success in creating three unique summer reading programs K-12 at Harker.
Susan Smith, Harker’s library director, and Donna Gilbert, history department chair, presented “Research Rules: Information Skills for the 21st Century.” The Harker faculty members shared ideas, tips and practices for teaching research in the high school history classroom.
Smith and Ramsay Westgate, history and social science teacher, presented “Teaching about International Issues: The World, Research Skills and the 21st Century,” in which they shared their experiences teaching an inquiry-based research project on international issues and public policy, a seminar-style senior elective offered at Harker.
Grade 4 mathematics teacher Eileen Schick shared examples of enriching math projects, games and online virtual resources she uses to strengthen and enhance Harker’s mathematics program in a talk called “Spice up Your Fourth through Seventh Grade Math Classes.”
Upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss held a workshop called “¡HABRÁ POESÍA!” in which she explored ideas for incorporating poetry in Spanish classes of all levels.
Dave Hart, new to Harker’s middle school performing arts department this year, presented a talk called “Mozart to Miles: Building Context, Continuity and Creativity through Improvisation,” highlighting the importance of improvisation in music teaching and learning. Hart shared specific techniques of how to incorporate improvisation into music curricula.
Lower school physical education teachers Paula Bither and Jim McGovern presented and demonstrated fun P.E. games suitable for an entire class to participate in at the same time, in a talk called “Large Group Games in Physical Education.”
Though there were many more talks given, the above examples show the wide breadth and deep knowledge Harker instructors have to offer!
In mid-February the 19th annual U.S. Open Music Competition (USOMC) was held in Oakland. The USOMC, with over 900 participants (mostly pianists), is one of the largest music competitions in the country. Students traveled from as far as China to compete in different levels and categories. Several students from Harker participated, winning a number of accolades. Unless noted, all categories are for the piano.
Bobby Bloomquist, grade 4, third place, treasury of romantic – junior (ruby), “Waltz in A Minor, Op. 124, #4,” by Schumann; Andy Semenza, grade 5, first place, showcase piano duet & ensemble – intermediate, sketches: “Musketeers and Toreadors,” by Gavrillin. Semenza and his partner, Andy Sheng (who does not attend Harker) were selected as one of the outstanding gold medalists of 2011 at the Prize Winners’ Concert. Semenza also won first place, treasury of contemporary – pre-senior (diamond), “Prelude #24, Op. 34,” by Shostakovich. Marcus Chen, grade 5, fourth place, treasury of romantic – junior (diamond), “Andante con moto (untitled) in F Major #26, Op. 68,” by Schumann.
Jonathan Dai, grade 7, third place, showcase piano duet & ensemble – intermediate, “Slavonic Dance #2 in E Minor, Op. 72,” by Dvorak.
Helen Wu, grade 8, second place, showcase violin concerto (ruby), “Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64, third movement,” by Mendelssohn; Andrew Jin, grade 8, third place treasury of contemporary – pre-senior (diamond), “Prelude #10, Op. 34,” by Shostakovich. Billy Bloomquist, grade 8, fourth place, open solo 5B, “Sonata in G Major Hob XVI:27 Presto, third movement,” by Haydn.
Vikram Sundar, grade 9, second place, showcase piano solo – intermediate (opal), “Impromptu #1 in Ab Major, Op. 29,” by Chopin and “Sonata #2 in F Major (Allegro), Op.10,” by Beethoven. Sundar also took third place in open concerto – intermediate, “Concerto #12 K.414 in A Major (Allegro),” by Mozart. Paulomi Bhattacharya, grade 10, second place, treasury of classical – advanced, “Sonata in C, Op.13, Grave-molto allegro – first movement,” by Beethoven.
Albert Wu, grade 11, second place, showcase piano solo – senior (sapphire), “Sonata #23 in F Minor, Op. 57, first movement,” by Beethoven and “Prelude in C Major, BWV870″ by J.S. Bach. Wu also took second place in treasury of romantic – advanced (diamond), “Polonaise in Ab Major, Op.53,” by Chopin.
The list of Harker participants was provided to us by a generous parent. Winners are not listed on the USOMC site by school and we apologize if anyone has been left off this list. If your child participated in the 2011 USOMC, please send information to news@harker.org and we will gladly add it to the article.
English Language Institute Receptions in Japan Canceled
Due to current events in Japan, the 2011 receptions in Tokyo and Kobe have been canceled. Our thoughts are with our Japanese friends and colleagues. The Harker School has many friends and associates in Japan from its long academic association and exchange program with the Tamagawa Gakuen school in Tokyo. Many current and former buddies of Harker students have been in contact with their U.S. friends and with Harker administrators since the earthquake and tsunami a week ago. Harker students have begun various efforts to add to the worldwide relief efforts, and the entire community sends its most fervent best wishes to all the Japanese affected by the disaster.