Late last month, junior Tiffany Wong took second place in the youth division at the Korea International Harp Competition in Seoul! Her performances of Gabriel Pierne’s ‘Impromptu Caprice’ and Hugo Reinhold’s ‘Impromptu in C# Minor’ (arranged by Elizabeth Hainen) won her a trophy, certificate and 500,000 South Korean won (equivalent to $470).
Established in 2015 with the goal of finding and promoting exceptional harpists from around the world, the Korean International Harp Competition also hopes to inspire young talents by offering opportunities to perform and congregate. The competition was juried by world-class harpists including Elizabeth Hainen, Florence Sitruk, Naoko Yoshino and Irina Zingg.
On March 7, the upper school choir Downbeat, co-directed by Jennifer Sandusky and Laura Lang-Ree, performed at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts Gala at the gorgeous (and enormous!) San Jose Performing Arts Center.
The gala celebrated the announcement of Broadway San Jose’s upcoming season with performances by Downbeat, Café Society and members of Children’s Musical Theater. Downbeat was selected to perform because of Harker’s long history of success in the San Jose Top Honors Musical Awards program, which is held in the same venue. The head of the gala gave Downbeat a warm welcome and extensively praised Harker for being a leader in performing arts in Northern California.
On Monday, Dave Hart’s middle school music students were visited by Brad Hogarth, band and orchestra director at San Francisco State University. A friend of Hart’s since their time at the Eastman School of Music, Hogarth worked with the students on a section of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “English Folk Song Suite,” advising them on technique and how to sound more enthusiastic while performing. One of his methods was to ask the students for words that came to mind while playing various sections of the piece, which helped them bond with the music and deliver more sincere, heartfelt performances.
“The main thing that I was trying to get them to do today was give them permission to use all the energy that they naturally have at this age and put it into their instruments,” Hogarth said.
This past weekend, Harker’s Bel Canto and Cantilena choral ensembles garnered unanimous superior ratings at the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Choral Festival, held at Saratoga High School.
Judges commended Bel Canto, Harker’s non-auditioned mixed voice choir, for its very mature and full sound, clean intonation, balance between sections and challenging repertoire. One of the judges was amazed to discover that the ensemble comprises mostly high school freshmen and sophomores.
Judges praised Cantilena, Harker’s treble ensemble, for its outstanding cohesiveness; superlative tone quality, balance, precision and technical facility; highly developed listening and adjusting skills; mature, expressive, dynamic and consistent shaping of musical phrases; and ability to explore a broad stylistic spectrum. “This is a great example of what a women’s choir can sound like,” commented judge Gail Bowers. “Hopefully, you will have the opportunity in college to sing in a group as good as this one.”
Comments from adult audience members, who approached the groups after their performances, included “spectacular performance” and “I’m very impressed by Harker’s choral program.”
The unanimous superior designation, given by four judges, means the choirs not only gave outstanding performances but also demonstrated outstanding music sight reading skills. This designation, if followed by two more in succeeding years, can result in a coveted showcase performance at regional and national choral conventions.
Bel Canto, under the direction of Jennifer Sandusky, sang Hans Leo’s “Hassler’s Cantate Domino” (1601), Emma Lou Diemer’s “Take, O Take Those Lips Away” from “Three Madrigals “(1962) and Stephen Leek’s “Morning Tide” from “Island Songs” (1994).
Cantilena, under the direction of Susan Nace, sang, Caterina Assandra’s “Duo Seraphim” (1609), Clara Schumann’s “Liebst du um Schönheit” (1841), and Abbie Betinis’ “Jerusalem Luminosa” (2006).
New York City-based brass combo Lucky Chops, currently in the middle of a national tour, stopped by the upper school for a special assembly performance of its brand of high-energy funk. The band played a series of original songs and a medley consisting of familiar pop tunes by artists including Blondie, the Spice Girls and Daft Punk reimagined and adapted to its boisterous style. Toward the end of the assembly, senior saxophonists Edgar Lin and Bobby Schick, junior saxophonists Donna Boucher, Rahul Goyal and Jacob Kim, and drummers Satchi Thockchom, grade 12, and Neil Ramaswamy, grade 11, were invited to join Lucky Chops for an impromptu jam session!
Yesterday, Austrian piano manufacturer Bösendorfer – maker of the piano that sits on the stage at the Rothschild Performing Arts Center – brought German pianist Jan Jiracek von Arnim to the Patil Theater to deliver a very special master class to Harker students. An award-winning performer and professor at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna, Jiracek von Armin heard performances from Harker students Andrew Semenza, grade 12, and Jessica Jiang, grade 10. He discussed their interpretations of the pieces they played, offering advice on how to improve their respective techniques.
Mallika Dhaliwal ’11, who earned a vocal certificate from Harker’s upper school Conservatory, stopped by to share her insights about the world of performing arts. About a dozen students joined her, along with performing arts chair Laura Lang-Ree, for the session. Following Harker, Dhaliwal attended the University of Southern California from 2011-17, earning a double major in critical studies and creative writing from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, and a master’s degree in fine arts in producing from the school’s prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program.
Dhaliwal has worked at large studios including Universal, BBC and Lionsgate, as well as smaller companies, including Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and George Clooney’s Smokehouse Pictures. Most recently, she worked as assistant to the head of talent at Anonymous Content, and assistant to Brian Yorkey, the showrunner of Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why.”
Last week’s Student Directed Showcase spotlighted the directorial talents of seniors Anika Banga, Haley Keller, Jessica Skinner and Sameep Mangat. Directors spent several months developing their vision for each of the one-act plays featured at SDS, managing every aspect of the play, from casting to on-stage visual elements to event promotion.
As has been the case in previous years, this year’s featured plays ran the gamut. Banga directed “The Murderous Mansion of Mr. Uno,” a hilarious sendup of classic murder mysteries. “Imperfect Proposal,” directed by Keller, tells the story of a marriage proposal-turned-disaster. Skinner’s production of the surrealist “Chamber Music” studied the interactions among eight women interred in an asylum, each of them believing themselves to be a historically important woman. “Rabbit Hole,” directed by Mangat, examined the various ways in which families cope with loss.
For more information on the history of SDS and the process of producing a play, see the feature story on SDS from the spring 2015 issue of The Harker Quarterly.
This week, grades 1-3 staged their annual holiday shows at the Bucknall Theater to celebrate the season as the community headed into the winter break. Attendees were delighted to hear the voices of grade 1 students singing odes to the holiday season at Tuesday’s Grade 1 Holiday Show, where the homeroom students of teachers Imelda Cantu, Cindy Proctor, Larissa Weaver and Grace Wallace performed an assortment of tunes. In keeping with the show’s title, “All I Want This Holiday,” students sang several songs about holiday wishes, including “I Want to Be an Elf,” “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” and “That’s What I Want for Christmas.” Other songs performed that afternoon included “My Favorite Time of Year,” “Spin a Little Dreidl” and “A Gift for Santa.”
On Thursday, grades 2 and 3 teamed up for their holiday show, “This Joyous Holiday,” where they performed holiday staples such as “Jingle Bell Rock,” “Feliz Navidad,” “Winter Wonderland” and “O Chanukah, O Chanukah.” During grade 3’s rendition of “Auld Lang Syne,” they were joined by classmate instrumentalists Lucas Lum, Vera Sorotokin, Annabel Huang and Billy Liang on violin and Ayden Grover on cello. Other special guests included grade 2 teachers Andi Bo, Hillaray Carroll, Sejal Mehta and Ayesha Tahir, who recited the famous poem “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
On Dec. 8, several Harker performing arts groups gave their annual holiday assembly performances at the lower, middle and upper school campuses. Orchestras from all three campuses made appearances, as did upper school vocal groups Downbeat, Cantilena, Bel Canto and Camerata, as well as middle school singers from Vivace, Dynamics, Harmonics and Concert Choir. The lower school’s Bucknall Choir spread some cheer to their friends on the lower school campus. In addition, the upper school’s varsity and JV dance troupes and Kinetic Krew, middle school dance groups Showstoppers and High Voltage, and the grade 4-6 dance ensemble Dance Fusion performed upbeat holiday-themed dance routines. The shows were warmly received by those in attendance as they headed into the weekend!