Last week, veteran stage actor David Bryant visited the upper school campus to deliver a master class to Harker students and offer them advice on how to get their careers in motion. Bryant, who has been acting professionally since 1980, gave the master class on Tuesday in which students sang and recited songs and selections from plays. Bryant then provided feedback on their performances.
Senior Mia Giammona, who sang the Spanish art song “El tra la la y el punteado,” said that Bryant’s guidance “helped to further my interpretation of the piece, which is very important considering that it’s not in English. Making sure the audience understands the meaning of the song is the most important part.”
On Thursday, Bryant held a workshop to advise students on how to launch their careers. For continued performing arts studies, he recommended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Northwestern University and Syracuse University. He also discussed the process of getting an agent and advised students to develop a multifaceted skill set to become eligible for more roles. “Learning never stops,” he said. “That’s what we do as artists and performers.”
In early October, sophomore pianist Nicole Chen performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall as one of the winners of the 2015-16 American Fine Arts Festival Competition. Chen, who began playing in kindergarten, has had success in numerous competitions over the years. She also is involved with the Music Buddies organization, which organizes youth concerts for senior centers. Way to go!
Classical guitarist Wilson Zhang, grade 8, performed at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in July as a winner in the American Protégé competition. Each year, American Protégé evaluates video submissions from young musicians around the world and rewards the best submissions with the opportunity to perform at one of the world’s most prestigious concert venues.
Zhang currently performs with the middle school jazz band, which is a shift from his normal activities as a classical guitarist. “Playing classical guitar…is very different stylistically to what he is playing currently in jazz band,” said Dave Hart, middle school music teacher. “Wilson is doing a great job learning this new music style! He is a fantastic musician and is a pleasure to work with each week. We are all thrilled to have him in the program!”
Nearly three dozen seniors in the Harker Conservatory’s certificate program gave their final performances of the year and received their certificates at the 15th annual Senior Showcase, held May 13 at Foothill College’s Smithwick Theatre. Each graduate of the Conservatory had spent their four years at the upper school focusing on one of seven disciplines in the performing arts: dance, vocal music, musical theater, theater, instrumental music, instrumental composition or technical theater. Watch the video!
Graduating seniors honored at the event were:
Dance: Sharanya Balaji, Helena Dworak, Emily Pan, Ankita Sharma and Allison Wang.
Vocal music: Madhu Karra, Sahana Narayanan, Gurutam Thockchom and Helen Woodruff.
Musical theater: Rishabh Chandra, Mary Najibi, Rachel Renteria, Kaushik Sankar and Namitha Vellian.
Theater: Janet Lee, Naomi Molin, Melina Nakos and M.C. Smitherman.
Instrumental music: Victoria Ding, Andrew Kim, Kevin Min Hwan Kim, Jason Lee, Selin Ozcelik, Kristen Park, Nikhil Parmar, Elina Sendornaris, Daphne Yang and Jessica Zhu.
Instrumental composition: Jonathan Ta and Alice Wu.
Technical theater: Zarek Drozda, Aishu Murari, Chandler Nelson and Shilpa Repakula.
Heartiest congratulations to all the Conservatory Certificate Graduates of 2016!
Last Saturday, the Grades 7-8 Orchestra participated in the California Music Educators Association (CMEA) Music Festival at Independence High School and, for the first time ever, received a Unanimous Superior Rating. The orchestra performed about 20 minutes of prepared music for three judges and was evaluated on sight reading as well. About 40 students participated.
“This is the highest possible rating an ensemble can receive at CMEA,” said Dave Hart, orchestra director, “and it just shows all the hard work they put in individually and as a group! There were wonderful displays of team work throughout the entire festival. Please join me in congratulating the students!”
Congratulations to the entire Grades 7-8 Orchestra and director Dave Hart!
Earlier this month, sophomore Liana Wang was named one of 30 winners of an essay contest held by the New York City-based Joffrey Ballet School. As one of the winners (chosen from 1,200 entrants), and as a award-winning, accomplished dancer, Wang received a full scholarship to a two-week intensive jazz and contemporary dance program that will take place this summer.
“Liana is an incredibly talented dancer and performer,” noted Karl Kuehn, dance teacher, “and we are very fortunate to have her on the Varsity Dance Team, and as a Performing Arts Conservatory dance certificate candidate. Her strong work ethic, advanced technique, and exceptional performance skills identify her as an ideal candidate for this summer intensive program.”
Upper school women’s vocal group Cantilena, directed by music teacher Susan Nace, garnered another unanimous superior rating at the California Music Educators Association’s Spring Festival on March 12. The group earned superior ratings for their sight-reading ability as well as their performance. Comments heard after the performance were extremely positive, Nace reported, adding that one person in attendance commented, “Wow! Mature, wonderful tone quality. Incredible group!” while another noted, “I didn’t want to comment, I just wanted to listen.”
The current members of Cantilena are Izzy Gross, Madhu Karra, Naomi Molin, Sahana Narayanan, Akshaya Premkumar, Rachel Renteria and Helen Woodruff, grade 12; Priyanka Chilukuri, Mia Giammona, Era Iyer, Chetana Kalidindi, Pooja Kini, Sara Pachauri, Medha Shah, Amrita Singh and Tiffany Zhu, grade 11; and Krishna Bheda and Millie Lin, grade 10.
Last week, four Harker middle school students were chosen to be members of statewide ensembles that will perform in February at the California All-State Music Education Conference. French hornist Kai-Ming Ang, clarinetist Jenny Shaw and flutist Anika Tiwari, all grade 8, were selected for the California Band Directors Association’s All-State Junior High School Concert Band. Trumpeter Leland Rossi, grade 7, was selected to play with the CBDA’s All-State Junior High School Jazz Band, making him the first Harker student to play for an all-state jazz band. Together, these four students represent the largest group of Harker middle school students ever selected to play for all-state ensembles.
“The audition is rigorous and requires great preparation and focus as they have to turn in a recording of scales and etudes,” said middle school music teacher Dave Hart. “These students were selected out of auditions from any seventh or eighth grader in the state of California, so it is quite an honor and opportunity.”
Eight students were part of the Mixed Choir: Krishna Bheda, grade 10; Karina Butani, grade 10; Mia Giammona, grade 11; Madhu Karra, grade 12; Ashwin Rao, grade 11; Gurutam Thockchom, grade 12; Sumi Wadhwa, grade 10; and Tiffany Zhu, grade 11. Three sang in the Women’s Choir: Anika Banga, grade 10; Morgan Douglas, grade 10; and Rithi Jayam, grade 9.
The students rehearsed all day and evening on Thursday and Friday, as well as Saturday morning, prior to the concert, which was held at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. They were prepped by Susan Nace and Jennifer Sandusky, Harker music teachers and choir directors.
“Susan really did a lot of prep work with the kids on the music prior to the Honor Choir rehearsals,” noted Sandusky.
Singers will advance to California All-State Honor Choirs, to be held Feb. 11-13 in San Jose, based on scores from their regional audition. In those auditions, “students were scored on vocal tone quality, intonation, sight-reading abilities and musicianship skills. Each sings an Italian Art Song, sings major, minor and chromatic scales a cappella, and completes a sight-singing exercise,” said Sandusky.
This article originally appeared in the fall 2015 Harker Quarterly.
Junior Edward Oh, a cellist with The Harker School Orchestra, spent late June and early July touring Europe with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, performing in amazing venues in six cities including Milan, Berlin and Amsterdam. “We were extremely privileged to play in the Berlin Philharmonie and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw,” exclaimed Oh.
Oh, who has been playing the cello for more than a decade, looked back on the trip fondly and expressed gratitude at having such a unique opportunity. “The tour itself was a tremendous opportunity for me to not only perform in grand venues, but to also gain an invaluable amount of experience in orchestral playing,” he said.
When they weren’t rehearsing or performing, members of the youth orchestra enjoyed sightseeing.
“A trip to Europe is something some people can only hope to dream of and I am eternally grateful to my parents and mentors for assisting me,” Oh added.