At last month’s upper school winter choral concert, women’s vocal group Cantilena was joined by three Harker alumnae who are now faculty members. Upper school journalism teacher Whitney Huang ’08, upper school English teacher Bridget Nixon ’12 and middle school science teacher Kathy Peng ’05 – all former Cantilena members – gathered onstage with the current Cantilena lineup to perform Norwegian composer Frode Fjellheim’s “Eatnemen Vuelie.” They also sang “Truth” by Andrea Ramsay as a trio.
The collaboration was the idea of music teacher Susan Nace, who reached out to the three alumnae at the beginning of the school year. They began rehearsing once a week in October, and even though they were all from different graduating classes, greatly enjoyed the experience of working on music together. “Although I didn’t necessarily know all the other alumni at the time while I was at Harker, because I’m a lifer I’ve crossed paths with many Cantilena alums,” said Huang, who was involved with performing arts throughout her student life at Harker and currently sings with two local choral groups. “Being back in the same classroom … really brings back memories of what Cantilena used to be like.”
The concert presented Nixon with an opportunity to perform again, which she had not done much of in recent years due to being focused on her teaching career. “I like getting to sing again, and we all have this shared experience of being part of Cantilena, which is pretty unique,” said Nixon, who started singing as a middle school student. “Susan has been generous with her time and expertise, and I’m grateful that she has given us this opportunity to sing together.”
Peng, who became a member of Cantilena the same year Nace formed the group and sang for several years after graduating from Harker, described the experience of being directed by her former teacher as “kind of surreal,” adding that she was honored to have been asked to be part of the concert. “It is a testament to the impact that Ms. Nace had on me and her other students that we would feel drawn to sing together again, after all these years, and under the circumstances of the pandemic,” she said.
In December, sophomore Miki Mitarai, who was a second place winner in the fall 2020 American Protégé International Music Talent Competition, gave a performance at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, singing “Voi Che Sapete” from Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”
Each year, American Protégé invites young musicians from around the world to submit video auditions for the competition. Mitarai’s invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall was extended after her placement in the competition, but was postponed for nearly two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mitarai, who is a member of the upper school vocal group Cantilena, said the opportunity was “well worth” the long wait.
Prior to her performance, she encountered a group of singers in Central Park, and was greatly inspired “by the emotion and passion in their voices,” determined to carry that inspiration with her into that evening’s performance. “Singing always makes me happy, and that night, the feeling was just amplified,” she recalled. “The concert went super smoothly and I was so proud of how much time, practice and hard work I had put in to get to where I was.”
Harker upper school singers were recently named to three honor choirs. Seniors Teresa Cai and Anya Warrier, juniors Alan Jiang and Aniket Singh, and sophomores Anya Chauhan and Miki Mitarai will represent Harker in the National Association for Music Education’s (NAfME) National Honor Choir. They will perform in a virtual concert to be held Jan. 22-24.
Mitarai, Jiang and junior Aria Jain also will be members of the American Choral Directors Association Western division’s honor choir, which is slated to perform in Long Beach in March, at the ACDA Western region’s regional conference.
The California All-State Choir, selected by the California Choral Directors Association, will feature Cai, Jain, Jiang, Mitarai and Singh, as well as juniors Ava Arasan, Kris Estrada and Anika Pandey, sophomores Shayla He and Katelyn Hsu, and Varun Bhupathi, grade 9. According upper school music teacher Susan Nace, Harker has a higher percentage of students participating in the All-State Choir than any high school, and the highest rate of acceptance among independent schools.
“The directors of all the honor choirs are highly respected composers and conductors from throughout the United States,” Nace said. “Although we require our Certificate Candidates to audition every year, any of our choral musicians may audition. The audition is rigorous and includes sight-reading, vocal technique evaluations, and vocal quality evaluations.”
Nace added that Harker’s rate of acceptance this year was the school’s highest yet.
This year’s upper school fall play, “Much Ado About Nothing,” which premiered last week, brought audiences to the Patil Theater to enjoy a unique interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. Directed by theater teacher Jeffrey Draper, this production shifted the time period of this story of one-sided love and mistaken identity to just after World War II, with set and costume design to match. Music and dance numbers were also integrated to match the culture of the era and create a light-hearted atmosphere.
On Tuesday, upper school jazz band members attended an impromptu master class by pianist Dalton Ridenhour in the Patil Theater. A specialist in stride piano, the style that developed from ragtime, Ridenhour talked about the history of ragtime, which was influenced largely by classical and folk music, and its influence on jazz piano. Ragtime became popular with people who played the piano in their homes and purchased sheet music of ragtime pieces to perform for their families and friends. In New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, Ridenhour explained, residents would host “rent parties,” where musicians were hired to perform and attendees would pay admission in order to help tenants pay their rent. James P. Johnson, an early notable stride pianist, was a frequent performer at such parties. Ridenhour performed pieces by both Johnson and influential ragtime composer Scott Joplin to demonstrate both the differences and similarities between the two styles.
Young theater enthusiasts returned to upper school campus this summer for another run of Summer @ The Conservatory, during which students in a variety of grade and experience levels learned the fundamentals and finer points of performing for stage and screen.
The first session was a three-day course on screen acting, in which attendees underwent training in various film acting techniques and principles. “Students spent the first two days learning the art of how to act on camera and how it’s different from acting in on stage,” said performing arts chair and Summer @ the Conservatory artistic director Laura Lang-Ree. “They are on camera from day one, learning the nuances of being a film actor in real time.”
Students also did screen tests and created a short film on day three of the workshop. “They have a whole full shoot day on the third day, where they are filmed on-set,” said Lang-Ree.
In July, Summer @ The Conservatory featured a three-week session that included Conservatory Presents for grades 5-9 and Conservatory Intensive for grades 9-12. Students from each group auditioned for roles in productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “In the Village of the Brothers Grimm” and “Star-Cross Lovers,” which were all performed on the final day of the program.
The plays performed by the students were chosen by directors, who looked for works that would be both fun and appropriately challenging. “We love to pick things that will excite our students and challenge them in their acting world,” said Ellie Lang-Ree ’19, who directed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the Conservatory Presents program. Directors also teach theater classes in the mornings and offer support to students in their learning. Students also dove into the study of musical theater, including dances from musicals such as “Hamilton.” “They got a taste of a bunch of different musical theater styles,” said Brandi Reinhard, a director who graduated from Chapman University with a BFA in theater performance.
The Conservatory Intensive program was open by audition only to students entering grades 9-12 who wished to deepen their knowledge of theater and expand their acting skills into new territory. This year’s students explored concepts including comedia – a style of three-act play from the Spanish Golden Age that incorporated comedic elements – and abstract forms of theater. “This particular group is really close,” said Laura Lang-Ree, “and they get into skills that are appropriate for their age level. Summer @ the Conservatory grows with our students and our performers love to return year after year, growing as theater artists.”
The program also received visits from industry professionals, who delivered special workshops. Improv performer Justin Smith, who has worked with the Upright Citizens Brigade and Second City, returned to deliver another improv workshop, and actor Fred Cross, whose credits include “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Office,” gave a workshop on film acting.
The 2020-21 school year changed the way Harker was able to put on performances. With no way to host a full audience, our performing arts department had to think outside the box in order to perform for the community.
The upper school’s production of “Les Misérables” took on a whole new character as a feature-length film. Students spent weeks recording their lines at home before those audio files were meticulously spliced and arranged into a beautiful execution of the story. Once the audio was completed, the cast and crew arrived to film in the theater with a range of three to four cameras rolling at all times. In the days before COVID-19, the theater seats would have been packed with parents and students alike, but instead they sat empty as the actors went through take after take. Hundreds of hours of footage were sent off to be compiled into a feature length film, blurring the lines between play and movie.
Our annual Dance Show was made possible only through weeks of Zoom practice as students successfully choreographed via video chat. Within 90-minute time slots, each group was able to pull off amazing routines having only practiced in person on the day of filming. The Senior Directed Showcase officially signaled a return to “normal” with a 25 percent capacity audience and livestream, giving our students a final opportunity to perform at Harker. In all, the community came together to laugh, cry and watch some truly impressive performances that otherwise might not have happened in such a tumultuous year.
Enjoy a look at some of the best performing arts photos from this past year.
Rising sophomore Arushi Sharma recently took top spots in two vocal competitions. The singer won a grand prize across all age groups in the 2021 US New Star Vocal Competition, in which competitors prepare two solo vocal pieces to perform. In the International Youth Music Competition, which featured submissions from across the world, Sharma took second prize in the Broadway, Disney and Musical Theatre category. A singer for more than 10 years, Sharma has performed in many Harker productions, including the spring 2021 production of “Les Misérables.”
The cast and crew of the 2021 upper school spring musical, “Les Misérables,” went above and beyond to create a full-length film of their on-stage production, which is now available to view at Harker’s Vimeo page. For this through-sung production, cast members sang their lines individually at home and were later filmed acting their parts at the Patil Theater, which contained an elaborate set. For an in-depth look at the work that went into this incredible production, see Harker Aquila’s feature story on the musical.
University of Southern California music professor Ron McCurdy made the second appearance of his virtual residency at Harker on Feb. 26, discussing the leadership principles illustrated by a number of famous jazz bandleaders.
He began with Duke Ellington, one of the most enduring composers and bandleaders of the 20th century, who managed to stay relevant for half a century and through many drastic shifts in musical tastes. Ellington was known for composing pieces that emphasized the strengths of individual players in his band, even writing down their names on the sheet music. “That’s how intimately he understood what his musicians were capable of doing,” McCurdy said. He also reinvented himself on several occasions. “He realized that what he had done in the 1920s and 30s would not necessarily work in the 1940s,” said McCurdy, citing Ellington’s work for TV and movies, as well as what McCurdy called “art music.”
Ellington also inspired loyalty in his band members, many of whom stayed with his band for decades. “He treated them all with dignity,” McCurdy noted. “He didn’t believe in letting people go. Because of that loyalty, he was able to keep many of his key sidemen in his band.”
Moving on to Miles Davis, McCurdy noted the legendary trumpeter’s belief in the importance of finding one’s own voice, something he encouraged in the musicians who played with him. “[Davis] did not believe in … keeping the same style, playing the same music,” McCurdy said, pointing out Davis’ powerful use of notes that would be considered wrong by other players. “When you learn the theory behind it, hopefully you break the rules,” McCurdy said. “Who’s to say that playing a D natural over a minor chord is a wrong note? The ear can reconcile that sound, but theoretically it’s wrong. If you can play it with conviction, it won’t sound wrong.”
The conviction Davis displayed inspired a generation of now-legendary jazz musicians, including Chick Corea, Cannonball Adderley and Herbie Hancock. “He also trained the next generation of bandleaders,” said McCurdy. “This is the mark of a great leader; you make everyone around you better.”
Another of the leaders McCurdy discussed was drummer Art Blakey, who McCurdy called the “consummate pedagogue.” Blakey was known for keeping members for a maximum of a few years before letting them go to start their own bands and define their own careers. Everyone in Blakey’s band was expected to compose as well as perform. This was also done to keep his own work from stagnating. Blakey and his band, the Jazz Messengers, became known for the talented young performers it featured and helped codify the style that would become known as “hard bop,” which contained elements of gospel and rhythm and blues. Notable Jazz Messengers alumni include Terrence Blanchard, Freddie Hubbard and Wynton and Branford Marsalis.
