Cellist Lucas Chen, grade 11, recently won second prize in the strings category of the ENKOR International Music Competition. Chen, who won in Category C (ages 16-21), is also the co-principal cellist of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, making his solo debut in 2018 after winning PACO’s Concerto Competition. He has also won first prize in both the United States Open Music Competition and the American Protege International Concerto Competition. Last year, he was one of 16 Harker students to participate in Kronos Quartet’s 50 for the Future Program. Contestants in the ENKOR competition are evaluated by a jury board of more than 500 members from more than 70 countries.
Ron McCurdy, a professor of music at the University of Southern California, gave a presentation Tuesday on the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. His appearance was the first in a series of four planned for the upper school’s spring semester. McCurdy, who previously served as a professor of music and chair of the Afro-American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota, is also the creator of the Langston Hughes Project, a live multimedia performance of Langston Hughes’ “Ask Your Mama: 12 Moods for Jazz,” which will be performed during McCurdy’s fourth appearance in April.
The presentation began with a brief history of the arrival of the first Africans on the American continent in the 17th century, their enslavement by European settlers (at the persuasion of rich European landowners), the Emancipation Proclamation (which McCurdy said was an act of “economic and political expediency”) and the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery but contained a massive loophole: that people guilty of criminal behavior could be placed back into bondage.
“So we know that with the 13th Amendment being enacted, that almost any aspect of African-American life was somehow criminalized,” McCurdy said. One of the most flagrant abuses of the loophole involved the crime of vagrancy, in which a person was unable to produce papers proving they were employed. This criminalization of Black life, McCurdy said, continues today. “It is no accident … that even though African-Americans make up less than 30 percent of the population, we represent more than 50 percent of the population in prison,” he noted.
During the migration of Black Americans from the South to the North and Midwest, “an amalgamation of doctors, lawyers, teachers, dentists, gangsters … you name it,” arrived in Harlem, McCurdy said. This also included a great number of artists and intellectuals, resulting in what has become known as the Harlem Renaissance. “The Harlem Renaissance was probably one of the first times in our country where white America began to take notice of African-American culture,” said McCurdy. Before then, Black Americans were judged only by the amount of labor they performed.
Artists from many disciplines – including music, poetry, painting and literature – created works that chronicled Black life in the 1920s. McCurdy covered several of the key figures during this period, including Hughes, whose work delved into the contradiction of the idea of America as “land of the free.”
Harlem also had its own successful baseball and basketball teams. The New York Renaissance basketball team (often shortened to Rens), was based in Harlem and would play exhibition games against the Boston Celtics, who they frequently defeated. The Rens were paid in checks, which would often bounce. The two teams befriended one another, and the Celtics later demanded that the Rens be paid in cash.
Black musicians in the 1920s, many trained at top American musical schools, had difficulty finding opportunities in America and frequently performed in Europe. These included singer Marian Anderson, who toured successfully in Europe before returning to America. After being denied the opportunity to sing at Washington D.C.’s Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, she gave a now-famous concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Singer and actor Paul Robeson also became popular for his theater performances, particularly of the song “Ol’ Man River,” which he repurposed later in his life as an anthem against oppression. In the 1940s he was blacklisted for his sympathies for the Soviet Union and stances against American imperialism and could no longer travel abroad to perform.
The Cotton Club began operation in Harlem in 1923, employing Black entertainers whose performances at the whites-only venue helped launch their careers. Due to the popularity of minstrelsy and later vaudeville in the early 20th century, African-American performers “were expected to comport themselves in a very subservient way.” McCurdy recalled a conversation he had with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who held little respect for Louis Armstrong as a boy “until he understood the history. And that way of comporting yourself was a defense mechanism. It was a survival technique,” McCurdy said. “Because if you came across as an African-American man with any degree of arrogance or too much confidence, that could get you killed.”
The growing popularity of jazz brought with it new dances such as the Lindy Hop and the Big Apple. As an art, dance began “moving away from the Victorian style of living, where everything was pristine and carefully done,” McCurdy said. “Now many of the Black dances … these were all dances that found their genesis in the Black community.” This style became popular with white youths, who were “having themselves a ball, much to the chagrin of their parents,” McCurdy remarked.
McCurdy’s next appearance will take place in late February, in which he will examine jazz performance practices and how they are similar to leadership, using examples by Duke Ellington, Miles Davis and Benny Goodman.
Following a rigorous audition process, six Harker students were recently named members of California All-State Ensembles.
Bassoonist Chelsea Park, grade 8, was selected to play for the junior high school symphonic band and violist Keira Chang, grade 7, was chosen to perform with the junior high school symphony orchestra. From the upper school, vocalist Malar Bala, grade 11, was named to the high school vocal jazz band, junior Rylan Yang was selected to play French horn in the high school symphonic band, and juniors Austin Wang and Tina Zhong, both violinists, were selected for the high school symphony orchestra and high school string orchestra, respectively.
This week, the upper school show choir Downbeat released a special video for its annual holiday outreach tour, which typically takes place on the first Friday of December. “For the last 25 years, Downbeat has toured all over the Bay Area, bringing holiday joy to preschools, senior centers, dementia units, Grace Cathedral’s homeless lunch clients, the children’s cancer ward at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and more,” said Laura Lang-Ree, upper school performing arts chair. In addition to performing, they also bring gifts, cookies and spend time chatting with residents.
Due to safety concerns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour could not be held this year, but the students felt the tradition should continue in some form. “Downbeat decided it was important to continue the tradition for all of our regular outreach places and spread even more joy, as so many people are alone over the holidays due to the pandemic,” Lang-Ree said. Downbeat members spent considerable time over the fall semester creating the video, including the sound editing, arranging and narration. It will be sent to various Bay Area schools, youth centers, hospitals and care facilities. Members of the Harker community can view the video by logging in to the Harker portal and visiting the Performing Arts page.
Ayan Nath, grade 11, recently placed second in American Protege’s We Sing Pop competition. He is slated to perform in the American Protege Summer Gala concert, scheduled to take place in June 2021 at the Isaac Stern Auditorium, located in New York City’s Carnegie Hall. The concert will also feature performers from Canada, China, Germany, India, Italy and South Korea.
Nath’s interest in music began at a very young age, and he has performed in events at Harker as well as Bay Area events such as the Stanford Jazz Festival. He was also invited to perform at Carnegie Hall in 2019 after winning an International Music Talent Award for his performance on the tabla, an Indian percussion instrument.
San Francisco native Paul Vallerga is the man behind the exquisite set designs for all middle and upper school performing arts productions. He also teaches a grade 7-8 Production and Design class. Vallerga likes the classics: He listens to baseball on the radio, watches old movies and named his “occasionally evil” cat Iago. He likes guiding his students into the word of technical theater with a sense of calm and attention, encouraging people around him to stay relaxed. Here’s a little more that Harker Magazine learned from this creative teacher, who is grateful to have made a career in the arts.
What is the one thing in the world you would fix if you could wave a magic wand?
We seem to be in a time where anger, bullying and a general incivility are not only acceptable but admired. I would fix that.
What makes you feel like a kid again?
Cheesy monster movies. Occasionally a new one pops up that, even with millions of CGI dollars, still gets the right vibe. The latest “Godzilla” got this right – he still looks like a guy in a rubber suit.
What is the biggest risk you have ever taken in your life?
I had just graduated with a B.A. in theater. I landed a temp job at Fairchild Semiconductor, and I designed one show at the California Theatre Center. I was offered permanent work at both places the same week. After some soul searching, I took the theater job, though it was lower paying. I was there for 20 years, and it led me directly to Harker.
What is your most treasured object and why?
I have a picture of my father right at the end of his life, with me in the background, and we both are (without knowing it) making the same hand gestures. I really love that picture.
What is something that you pretend to understand when you really don’t?
Baseball free agency.
What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
Don’t sweat the small stuff – and it’s all small stuff.
This story originally appeared in the spring/summer 2020 issue of Harker Magazine.
By Vikki Bowes-Mok
Audrey Kwong ’07 was 2 ½ years old when she took her first violin lesson.
“Music has been such a big part of my life from the beginning,” said Kwong.
Kwong attended Harker from grades 6-12 and was very involved in every aspect of performing arts, from orchestra and choir to dance. She was the featured violin soloist when the orchestra traveled to Budapest, Vienna and Prague her sophomore year and France her senior year.
“Audrey was the music gal of her graduating class. She not only sang in Cantilena but was concertmaster of the orchestra and participated in the dance show,” said Susan Nace, upper school choral teacher. “Audrey was a curious and provocative student, and most memorably, she chose an unusual piece for her senior showcase performance. Rather than the usual classical concerto or sonata movement, she went rogue and played a jazzy solo violin version of Gershwin’s ‘It Ain’t Necessarily So’ from ‘Porgy and Bess,’ complete with choreography! It was an unexpected delight in an otherwise very classical evening of Vivaldi, Haydn, Chopin and Fauré.”
When Kwong wasn’t performing at school, she played in the California Youth Symphony from grades 6-12 and took to the stage with Children’s Musical Theater. She attended Interlochen Center for the Arts one summer during high school and was completely filled up by being surrounded by people who were so passionate about music.
After graduating from Harker, Kwong went on to study violin performance at the University of Southern California, where she practiced violin for six to eight hours every day. Before her senior year, she had an internship with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus, where she broadened her views about a career in music.
Kwong realized that she needed a little more “marination time” before she launched her career and was encouraged to consider an arts management program. After being accepted by a variety of schools, she decided to attend graduate school at Carnegie Mellon University.
“Thank goodness for Harker’s excellent academics, because Carnegie’s arts management program was much more academically rigorous than USC’s music program. It was a complete shift, but I was ready for it,” remembered Kwong with a smile. “Then I interned with the Pittsburgh Symphony as an operations intern and I realized that logistics was my thing.” That realization has guided her career in music ever since. First Kwong interned at the Aspen Music Festival and School, a massive musical festival with 400 public events over eight weeks. The experience, which she calls “the craziest thing I’ll ever do,” confirmed her love of logistics.
She enjoyed it so much that she took a full-time position at the Aspen Festival and stayed for six seasons, where she said she grew up professionally.
Although she loved her time in Aspen, it was small-town living and she was looking for a new challenge when an opportunity opened up in St. Louis. Kwong was excited to become artistic operations manager, helping the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra from behind the scenes. She wears many hats, including coordinating musicians with stage and house managers to keep performances on time and budget, to managing tours and special events.
When she’s not keeping the symphony on track, Kwong plays in two bands, Boxcar and Andrew & the Dolls.
“Playing in these bands feeds a totally different musical side because a lot of what we play is improv, but then I’ll grab napkins and write down the notes so I can play it again,” said Kwong enthusiastically. “Music is about community and finding your people; and I’m able to do this whether I’m playing in bands or working for the symphony, both of which feed my musical passion.”
Last week, the Summer @ the Conservatory’s Conservatory Presents and Conservatory Intensive programs got off to a strong start. Students learned about a wide range of theater principles, including voice anatomy and character studies, in addition to casting the shows that each group will perform. Industry professionals also appear during the program each week to give workshops on various aspects of the arts. Last week, actor, producer and film critic Dennis Willis spoke on producing music and editing for television, and this week students will work with cartoon voice-over casting director Portia Scott and participate in an improv workshop with Justin Smith, an experienced improv performer who has worked with the Upright Citizens Brigade and Chicago’s legendary Second City and is also co-founder of the Chicago-based Canopy Theatre Collective.
The staff behind this year’s Summer @ the Conservatory program went to great lengths to make sure students would be able to explore their love of theater in a safe environment. Head nurse Debra Nott, artistic director Laura Lang-Ree, summer director Cindi Gonsalves and assistant head of school for student affairs Greg Lawson collaborated to prepare the courses for strict adherence to county guidelines. Students have been working in casts of no more than 12 and practice social distancing during rehearsals. “Although masks hide their smiles, these students were thrilled to be together again and are having a great time practicing their craft, even in these most unique circumstances,” said Lang-Ree.
As the 2019-20 school year drew to a close, the upper school orchestra and jazz band recorded special performances dedicated to the Class of 2020. Student musicians rigorously practiced their parts and recorded them individually, and music coach Paul Woodruff, an engineer, edited the submitted individual parts to create the final product.
“I can not tell you how lucky and thankful we are for the support of this project from the beginning,” said upper school instrumental music teacher Dave Hart. “As we worked to create an online curriculum for the kids in all the instrumental groups, it really became clear that we all yearned for collaboration that orchestra and jazz band provides on a daily basis when we rehearse in person.”
The orchestra performed an original piece composed and conducted by sophomore Spencer Cha, which features all of the 31 seniors in the orchestra. The jazz band recorded Charlie Parker’s “Bloomdido” and the standard “Misty” by Erroll Garner.
Hart gave special recognition to Woodruff, whose expertise made the project possible. “Paul was able to bring our vision to reality, which was no small undertaking!” Hart exclaimed. “I also want to highlight Spencer’s hours of work to create such a thoughtful and musical composition that features all the seniors. He started working on this last summer and worked on edits with me and other teachers throughout the school year.“
Videos of the performances are embedded below and can also be viewed at Harker’s Vimeo page.
Students in Susan Nace’s Study of Music class composed original pieces during the shelter-in-place as part of their studies. These pieces were later recorded using a variety of methods and posted online for analysis. Students also commented on their pieces, detailing their inspirations, processes and the tools they used to create their music.
“I enjoyed working on my composition once I got an idea to go off of,” said Kyra Hawk, grade 9, whose piece was written for her father and brother, both French horn players. “I was impressed by what I could compose, because I never thought of myself a composer of any sort.”
Freshman Anthony Zhao found that working from home afforded him a more flexible schedule, and he used Apple’s GarageBand software to compose his piece. “Some challenges I have faced are learning to compose in a new software and creating effective beat drops,” he said. “When I began, I barely had an idea of how to use GarageBand, but now I am able to compose music in GarageBand.”
For her piece, written for violin and cello, Katelyn Abellera, grade 9, enlisted the help of violinist Sawyer Lai and cellist Abby Tcheng, both grade 9. “First, I came up with the main melody. Then I came the bass part, where I took into consideration harmonies, parallel, similar, contrary and oblique motion that we learned about in theory,” she said.
For those who wish to see and hear these pieces, the students’ works have been uploaded to a public folder accessible by all.