In September and October, freshmen performing arts apprentices attended a series of required workshops intended to help them get to know one another and familiarize them with technical and behavioral standards expected of students in the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program.
At the first workshop, students introduced themselves to each other and talked about their chosen disciplines. The students also learned about every aspect of the Conservatory’s certificate program, “so that they fully know what to expect during their four years,” said Laura Lang-Ree, K-12 performing arts chair. Students then broke up into four groups and rotated through workshops in dance, singing, acting and instrumental music, with each group led by a Conservatory advisor.
The second workshop taught the students various technical aspects they will be required to learn, such as being part of a support crew, running spotlights and moving and building sets. At the final workshop, called the etiquette workshop, apprentices were shown the standards of good behavior onstage, backstage and in the audience.
On a weekend in late September, Jeffrey Draper, upper school drama teacher, along with upper school English teachers Jason Berry and Pauline Paskali, traveled with a group of 21 students to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the country’s largest regional repertory theater. Draper said the trip gave the students the opportunity to see “the greatest productions of Shakespeare that can be found on this side of the Atlantic.”
Draper said the highlight of the trip was the production of “Hamlet,” Shakespeare’s epic tale of revenge set in Denmark. “The contemporary setting, innovative staging and stellar acting was something we won’t soon forget,” he said.
Before viewing a play, the group attended prologues to gain a greater understanding of the text and how the theater company was producing each play during the season. Students got to meet actors and attended a special workshop put on by one of the company’s actors and its education director.
“This will certainly be an experience that Harker enjoys every summer,” Draper said. Space for the fall 2011 trip will be limited, he added, “and I’d recommend that anyone interested in attending reserve their spots as soon as the trip is announced in the spring.”
Gail Nakano ’06 recently auditioned for the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and to her delight has been accepted for the 2010-11 season. Nakano just earned a chemistry degree from Vassar College where she was very involved in the choral and opera programs. For the past two years she has been with the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers. Singing in the San Francisco chorus has been a dream of hers since seeing them as a child.
“The audition went fairly well,” said Nakano. “The sight reading got a little tough for the a cappella pieces, but my piece and the excerpts in the second part … went a lot better I think. They haven’t figured out which pieces I’ll be in yet, but I’m so happy!”
In addition, Nakano earned a chorus spot in the West Bay Opera’s fall production of “La Forza Del Destino.”
As announced in the spring, the Harker Conservatory has again been invited to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in summer 2011. Originally, the group had planned to perform “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.” However, that show is currently making its British premiere in London’s West End theater district, so rights to perform it in the U.K. have been restricted.
Undeterred, Laura Lang-Ree, director, and her creative staff brainstormed and have announced that “Pippin” will replace “Spelling Bee” as next year’s spring and Fringe musical.
The show, the 30th longest-running production on Broadway, is an unusual take on Pippin, son of Charlemagne, and his voyage of self-discovery. The play will be updated to modern times and given a current sensibility along the lines of the Broadway smash “American Idiot.”
Audition times have not changed, and more information is available in the Harker Parent Portal (HPP),in the back-to-school hub under Optional Programs and Forms in Encore!, the Conservatory’s newsletter.
The 2010 lower school dance concert, titled “When I Grow Up,” took place in May and featured more than 250 dancers Gr. 1-5, in addition to 26 dancers from the Harker faculty and staff. The spectacular show was directed by Gail Palmer, with assistant direction from Amalia Vasconi, Karl Kuehn and Rachelle Ellis. Back in October, dancers had roundtable discussions with the dance instructors and told them what they wanted to be and do when they grow up. The Bucknall faculty and staff were also asked what their wishes were for the students, and the routines reflected these concepts.
Dance routines included our students’ desires to: graduate high school; travel the world; be an athlete, doctor, scientist, firefighter, musician, artist, parent, rock star and teacher. Dance styles included jazz, hip hop, tap, lyrical, ballet, modern and musical theater.
They also included the faculty and staffs’ hopes that the students be happy, have love, be caring and compassionate with each other, work hard and use their talents, be confident with integrity and morals and keep their youthful exuberance. All hoped the students would take care of the world and make it a better place.
The upper school’s performing arts division, the Conservatory, proudly announced its 2010-11 season in May.
The fall play, directed by Jeffrey Draper, will be Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” This romantic tale takes place in a coastal city when a troupe of military victors comes home from war. Draper will be setting his version in 1945, with the boys coming back from defeating Hitler and Japan in World War II. Auditions will be Sept. 6-9.
The musical theater department was invited, for the second time, to participate in the world’s most prestigious arts festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, sponsored by the American High School Theatre Festival. This year’s musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” directed by Laura Lang-Ree with musical direction by Catherine Snider, will travel to the Fringe in August, 2011. Because of the extensive planning involved in taking the show on the road, auditions for the musical will be the week of Sept. 20, not in February as is usual.
Details for both shows will be posted in the daily bulletin and announced on campus when school begins. Students of all grades are encouraged to audition.
Cantilena, the upper school all-female classical vocal group, and Guys’ Gig, the all-boys vocal club, teamed up April 29 for a special concert in the Nichols Hall auditorium, directed by Susan Nace. Cantilena performed beautiful works by Japanese composer Ro Ogura, Thomas Weelkes, J.S. Bach and more. Meanwhile, Guys’ Gig brought a more modern vibe, singing “Take the ‘A’ Train” by jazz great Billy Strayhorn and “Change the World,” made famous by Eric Clapton. Several soloists and small groups were also featured at the show, including Mallika Dhaliwal, Gr. 11, singing “Ici-bas!” by Gabriel Fauré, Curran Kaushik, Gr. 12, performing Vincenzo Bellini’s “Vaga Luna Che Inargenti” and seniors Jackie Ho, Samir Datta and junior Ben Tien singing “Hey, Soul Sister” by the rock group Train.
In May, lower school musicians gave the summer a warm welcome at the End-of-Year Concert. Members of the Bucknall Choir, Jazz Ensemble and Orchestra played a varied selection of songs, including “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven, a medley of famous Bach pieces, the theme from “Jurassic Park” by film composer John Williams and “Smoke on the Water” by English rock band Deep Purple. The entire round-up of performers collaborated on “The Harker School Song,” written by David Len Allen, and the finale “I Am a Gummy Bear” by Christian Schneider.
For the first time, choirs from all three campuses came together one March evening for the United Voices concert, which featured the lower school’s Bucknall Choir, the Gr. 7-8 singing group Vivace (both directed by Jennifer Cowgill) and the upper school groups Bel Canto, directed by Catherine Snider, and Cantilena, directed by Susan Nace. All four groups thoroughly entertained the evening audience at the Blackford Theater, each singing pieces in a number of different styles from cultures all over the world. Among the many highlights were the Bucknall Choir’s version of the Spanish folk song “Que Llueva,” Vivace’s rendition of Mozart’s “Luci Care,” a performance of the Mack Gordon and Harry Warren classic “At Last” by Bel Canto and the closing song, the American folk hymn “How Can I Keep From Singing?” by Cantilena.
The Senior Showcase in April was a fun tribute and tearful farewell to the graduating seniors who spent their high school years in the Harker Conservatory, as they finally received their certificates from the program. Each student performed a piece from the repertoires they’ve been crafting for four years before receiving their certificates in their disciplines (acting, dance, instrumental and vocal music, technical theater or musical theater). Graduating seniors who performed at or produced the showcase were: Nikita Agrawal, Natasha Chitkara, Priya Bhikha, Sarah Newton, Margaret Woods (Theater); Alison Axelrad, Veronica Hsieh, Valerie Hwa, Shanna Polzin, Adrienne Wong (Dance); Namrata Anand, Alexander Creasman, Scott Mohanram, Melinda Wang (Musical Theater); Erica Hansen, Jacob Schwartz, Scott Underwood (Technical Theater); Nicole Lindars, Anita Satish (Vocal Music); Sonya Huang, Carissa Jansen, Miriam Lee, Elodie Nguyen, Priya Sathaye, Julia Shim, Jacqueline Son, Elaine Song, Shizuka Tiernan (Instrumental Music).