Arts 2015 - 2016

T H E R I V E R S S C H O O L

RIVERS

ARTS PROGRAM

SAPERSTONE '15

ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE STUDIOS

STUDENTS WALK AWAY WITH 33 AWARDS

Rivers students had a very strong showing at last year’s Scholastic Art Awards competition, taking home 33 awards, including six Gold Keys, the competition’s top award. Alicia Bellido ’17 (Ceramics), Ashley Brown ’16 (Printmaking), Courtney Drucker ’16 (Ceramics), Katherine Longfield ’15 (Printmaking), Laura Schmidlein ’15 (Sculpture), and Kendall Zaleski ’18 (Ceramics) each received Gold Keys for their work, which places each piece in the top five percent of all submissions for their respective mediums.

“I am pleased that the whole spectrum of our program is represented,” said Visual Arts Department Chair David Saul. “Upper School, Middle School, 2D, 3D, and media were all recognized and received either the Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention award.”

Of the 31 students who earned recognition at the competition, five were from the Rivers Middle School. Ava Dagres ’19 (Photography), Caleb Leeming ’19 (Photography), and Brenna Pipe ’19 (Photography) earned Silver Keys, while Julia Bauriedel ’19 (Photography) and Johnny Kantaros ’19 (Photography) were given Honorable Mentions.

“The neat thing about the Scholastic Art Awards is its long history. I competed in Scholastic Art back when I was in high school and we as teachers an identify with our students in that way,” Saul said.

“It’s great because it makes the student artist realize that there are a lot of people out there who respect their work.”

The six Gold Key winners moved on in the Scholastic Competition for national consideration. Last year, Savannah Knisley ’15 received a national Gold Medal in the 2014 competition.

LEFT: MOLLY EDEN '15

HALEY BURROUGHS '15

14

SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS

RIGHT: HUNTER DEMPSEY '15

KATHERINE LONGFIELD '15

The visual arts at Rivers include the study of art history along with many opportunities to explore the studio arts in a structured, sequential program. Students in the Middle School experiment with drawing, sculpture, ceramics, and photography. Upper School students complete several foundation-level trimester courses and then pursue one or more areas in depth, striving to create a strong voice with an expressive vision.

SISAL ART COMPETITION

At the 2015 Small Independent School Art League (SISAL) annual exhibition last spring, 28 Rivers artists received recognition. More than 500 works from 20 schools had been submitted across multiple disciplines and two age groups, grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. In the Upper School age group, Rivers students received five first-place prizes, three second-place prizes, four third-place prizes, and 11 honorable mentions. Haley Burroughs ’15 (Printmaking), Kate Knight ’17 (Ceramics, hand built), Molly Eden ’15 (Ceramics, wheel thrown), Hunter Dempsey ’15 (Woodworking), and Alex Gaither ’15 (B&W Photography) earned the top award in each of their respective disciplines. Rivers Middle School students also had a strong showing, earning one second-place prize and four honorable mentions.

“This SISAL show embraced the inclusive philosophy of featuring artwork by many students while honoring the outstanding creative works by select student artists,” said Visual Arts Department Chair David Saul.

“This philosophy mirrors the Rivers visual arts program which teaches creativity to all students in a variety of mediums while also supporting our top students in their in-depth pursuit in a particular medium.”

MUSIC THE EXCEPTIONAL MUSIC PROGRAM AT RIVERS earns numerous awards and honors annually for its ensembles as well as individual student musicians and performers.

For the myriad musical groups at Rivers, the 2014-15 school year was another notable one.

The Rivers Select Combo 1 competed at the Charles Mingus High School Competition for the second consecutive year.

The quartet was one of just three ensembles in the nonPerforming Arts High school category selected as finalists from the nationwide competition and was the recipient of the Mingus Spirit Award. The Spirit Award is “the most important award at the competition” as it is given to the ensemble whose spirit best reflects the unique style of the late Charles Mingus. Rachel Hawley ’15 was awarded an honorable mention for her performances on bass. The members of the Select 1A Combo performing were Hawley, John Nydam ’15, Jake Stenquist ’15, and Michael Manasseh ’19.

On the heels of their success, the Select 1A Combo later competed at the Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education (MAJE) State Competition in April and their performance earned them the Gold Medal. Hawley, Nydam, and Stenquist were all given Outstanding Musicianship Awards for their performances. Not to be outdone, the Select 1B Combo (Bryan Cleveland ’15, Christopher Minklei ’15, Nick Revers ’15, and Saipriya Valoth ’15) earned a Silver Key. Cleveland, Revers, and Valoth each received an Outstanding Musicianship Award.

The Rivers Big Band performed at the (MAJE) State Finals in March and came home with a Gold Medal. As a result, the Big Band played in a showcase concert with the state’s other gold medal winners in June. This honor came on the heels of a Gold Medal performance at the MAJE Senior District competition on March 4. Rachel Hawley, Jake Stenquist, and Joseph Nedder ’18 were each awarded an Outstanding Musicianship award for their performances at the state competition, while John Nydam received the MVP award for the small school division. John Nydam was named the MVP of the Senior District competition as well.

THEATER ARTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR The Nonesuch Players stage three major dramatic productions a year. Each season offers something different for actors. The Upper School dramatic production and musical take place in the fall and winter, respectively, while the spring features a Middle School production. Fall and spring performances take place in the school’s Black Box Theater, while the winter musical is held in the state-of-the-art theater at nearby Regis College in Weston.

Last fall, audiences were treated to an entertaining production of You Can’t Take it With You. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play was chosen because its title—and in turn its message—is something that Director Juliet Bailey felt the students could really identify with. “The play has such a heart to it,” Bailey said. “It’s goofy, it’s screwball—but the meaning of it —‘You can’t take it with you, live for the moment’—is something that really resonates now, and teenagers get it.” That message drew many first-time actors to the play, but the veterans of the stage helped the newcomers grow into their roles, and the structure allowed for an ensemble experience.

In addition, the show’s characters gave the cast license to step outside of their individual personalities and into the personalities of the dysfunctional family’s members, much to the delight of the audience.

The winter production was a rousing rendition of Stephen Schwartz’s award-winning and groundbreaking show Pippin. The Tony Award-winning musical originally opened on Broadway in 1972.

The musical uses the premise of a mysterious performance troupe, led by a Leading Player (Razzi Hawley ’15), to tell the story of Pippin (Andrew Chang ’15), a young prince on his search for meaning and significance. Director David Tierney chose to model the production after the original 1972 version using both the 7th century setting for the story of Pippin while framing it in a timeless stage setting. Music Director (and language teacher) Chris Holownia led a professional orchestra for the production, which also marked the debut at Rivers of choreographer Tara Sujko.

The final play last year was the Middle School’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The play was directed by Diane DeVore, with music direction by John Bower and choreography by Shari Repasz. A dedicated backstage crew designed and executed the imaginative sets for the musical, with assistance from Rivers stage veteran Adrienne Vanderhooft ’16. The show played to four sold-out audiences in the Black Box Theater in May.

In classical music, Itsva Hernandez ’16, a violinist in the Upper School Chamber Orchestra and Conservatory Program student, was one of 44 Project STEP music students who were recently honored with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. Chosen from a national pool of more than 350 nominations and 50 finalists, Project STEP was one of 12 programs across the country to receive the award, which is the highest honor for such programs in the United States. The award is administered by the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

In addition, nine soloists and ensembles represented Rivers at the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) Festival in May and four received Gold Medal “superior” ratings from the judges. Of the four ensembles that received Gold Medals, three were recommended for the Honors Concert at the conclusion of the festival that showcases performers that represented the highest level of performance in the opinion of the adjudicator.

The Middle School Chamber Ensemble earned its first-ever Gold Medal as well. Abi Warwick’19 (violin), Sam Adams ’20 (violin), Cecily Bua ’21 (violin), Annie Heuer ’21 (violin), Catherine Cunningham ’20 (piano), Emilia DeJesus ’19 (piano), Estelle Luong ’19 (piano), Kate Eselius ’20 (clarinet), and Lindsey Perko ’20 (bassoon) played wonderfully to earn this prestigious honor.

Three ensembles received Silver Medals while two soloists received Bronze Medals to round out what was an extremely successful day for Rivers musicians.

ARTS FACULTY Juliet Bailey has been directing high school drama productions for 20 years. She joined the Rivers faculty in 1997 and currently teaches drama and playwriting electives, directs performing arts productions in the Upper School, and coordinates the National Shakespeare Competition. In 2005, she received the Mida van Zuylen Dunn award for teaching excellence. Before Rivers, Juliet taught and directed at Millbrook School and Wyoming Seminary, and earned a Fulbright Teaching Exchange Fellowship which took her to Budapest, Hungary, for a year. A graduate of Bates College, Juliet earned her MA from Middlebury.

John Bower, the director of the Select Middle School Chorus, is a graduate of Haverford College where he studied voice, music theory/composition, and French. He has performed and music directed at a number of local community theaters, including Woodland Theater Company, Wheelock Family Theater, and Metrowest Family Theater. Mr. Bower is on the singing faculty at The Performing Arts Connection in Sudbury, MA. Tim Clark, the Upper School ceramics teacher, graduated from Skidmore College and received his MFA in ceramics from The School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology.

He is currently working toward furthering his exploration and understanding of wheel thrown and altered forms.

Philippe Crettien is the Director of the Rivers jazz program and chair of the jazz department of the RSC. This saxophonist earned a degree in philosophy and literature from the French Lycee of London and a BA from Berklee. In addition to touring Europe and South America with his band, the Philippe Crettien Quartet, he has performed and recorded with Branford Marsalis, Andre Jaume, Andy Jaffe, Bill Baron, and Mr. Jelly Belly. Mr. Crettien has recently performed with bassist and composer Mario Pavone.

Phillipe Crettien released a new CD as a leader, “November Dusk,” featuring RSC faculty.

Diane DeVore, the Middle School drama teacher, received her master's in Irish theater and film from Trinity College in Dublin and her undergraduate degree in theater from Loyola University of Chicago. As an extension of a class she attended as part of the Teacher as Scholars program, she worked with a professor of theater from Brandeis to incorporate new ideas into the Middle School drama program.

Susan Emmanouilidis, the director of the Upper School Women’s and Men’s Choruses, the Conservatory Program's Vocal Ensemble, and the choral director for RSC’s Capriccio Children’s Chorus, did her graduate work at NEC. She is the founding director of Brookline A Cappella. She sings with The Heritage Chorale, a MetroWest 80- member chorus which has performed in Prague, Vienna, Canada, and Ireland. She has also sung numerous times with Umbrian Serenades, a select vocal ensemble that performs in Umbria, Italy.

As a member of Journey Songs, she sings in small groups at hospice centers and nursing facilities. Susan is a certified Kodaly instructor.

Jeff Galindo, who teaches Middle School instrumental classes, brings a background of teaching both classical and jazz trombone, directing jazz ensembles, teaching improvisation, and performing.

His performance credits include world tours with many major musicians as well as working with some major entertainment talent such as Tony Bennet, Rebecca Paris, and Bobby Vinton.

Rindy Garner teaches sculpture in the Upper School. She is a graduate of the Maine College of Art where she majored in sculpture. She also earned her MFA from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts.

Lily Gillett teaches art, is the 7th grade dean, and coaches in the Middle School. She earned a BA in studio art from William Smith College where she was an Arts Scholar and varsity field hockey player. Ms. Gillett works in a variety of mediums with a focus on printmaking and painting.

Jeremy Harrison is an art teacher who studied at Kenyon College and earned his MFA from the University of Iowa. Mr. Harrison is a painter, printmaker and photographer. Much of his work reflects his ardent interest in the wilderness and remote landscapes.

Christopher Holownia came to Rivers from the Wellesley Public Schools where he established the Mandarin Chinese program and taught Spanish, German, Latin, and Chinese courses. He also serves as music director for many organizations in the area, including St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, Emerson College, Turtle Lane Playhouse, the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, and the Weston Drama Workshop. He earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his master’s of arts degree in teaching at Simmons College. He teaches Upper School Spanish, Chinese, and Latin, is the 9th grade dean, and collaborates with David Tierney on the winter musical production. He is also a freelance accompanist, voice teacher, and piano teacher.

Paul Huberdeau is an accompanist. He received a BM in music education from New England Conservatory, and studied with pianist Patricia Zander.

Cassandra Lovering, a Middle School theatre arts teacher and assistant librarian, received her BA from Susquehanna University and her MA in Theatre at Villanova University. She's the Community Engagement Associate at Fresh Ink Theatre Company, for which she'll be directing the New England Premier of It's Not About My Mother in December. Lovering regularly directs at Watertown Children's theatre, including this year’s musical adaptation of The Tempest in February, as well as operas for professional emerging artists at MetroWest Opera Company, most recently Puccini's Suor Angelica and Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti.

Chris Love is a Middle School art teacher. After playing Division I and professional soccer, he earned a degree in studio art from the University of Maryland. He later earned his master’s of art education from Tufts/SMFA. In addition to teaching and coaching, he is currently working on illustrating a book of short poems and designing skateboards for the company Devil Street Decks. He has also illustrated children’s books and album covers, among the other commissioned works.

Magdalena Richter is the director of the Upper School Chamber Orchestra and coach to the Middle School Chamber Orchestra.

She is a graduate of Juilliard and has won prizes in the International Music Competition in Paris, the Wieniawski International Competition and, the American Contemporary Music International Competition. Magdalena Richter serves as chair of the string department at the RSC and the NEC Preparatory School.

David Saul is the Visual Arts Department chair and photography teacher. Mr. Saul earned a degree in visual and environmental studies from Harvard. He spends part of his summers hiking and photographing coastal locales throughout New England. He has exhibited his panoramic and narrative works at the Art Worcester galleries, Bentley College, Harvard, and the Fitchburg Art Museum.

Dan Shaud is the coordinator of The Rivers School Conservatory Program. Mr. Shaud conducts the Middle School Chamber Ensemble and Upper School Chamber Orchestra, and teaches music theory and chamber music. He holds degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory and New England Conservatory of Music. A French horn player, he is a founding member of Know Orchestra, a quartet that has recently received funding to perform their original children's show for elementary schools throughout the Boston area.

David Tierney, who earned two degrees from UMass/Lowell, is the director of The Rivers School Conservatory and Performing Arts chair at The Rivers School. He is a frequent organ recitalist in the Greater Boston area, is minister of music at St. Paul’s Church in Dedham and conducts the Rivers Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Tierney also serves on the Board of Directors for the Dedham School of Music and Needham Concert Society and is on the Executive Committee of the Boston Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

Lisa Townley ’01 studied at the University of Vermont and Boston University, where she obtained both her BS and MFA, respectively, in art education. Lisa works in both 2D and 3D mediums, focusing on drawing, painting, ceramics, photography, graphics and mixed media.

Dan Loschen teaches jazz and classical piano in the RSC as well as in Rivers’ Conservatory Program. Loschen, a graduate of Oberlin and New England Conservatories, is the musical director, arranger, and pianist for the cabaret group Boston Musical Theater and is the assistant chairman of the RSC Jazz Department. He has performed and taught master classes in Europe and Asia and has produced four CDs.

THE RIVERS SCHOOL CONSERVATORY FOUNDED IN 1975 on the campus of The Rivers School, The Rivers School Conservatory is a community music school that serves more than 800 students of all ages. While the majority of its students come from nearby communities, the Conservatory also provides a musical adjunct to The Rivers School curriculum. Nearly a quarter of Rivers students take some form of instruction at the Conservatory. Through its frequent concerts, and its Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music in particular, The Rivers School Conservatory plays a significant role in the cultural life of the school and the region. Its outstanding faculty teaches beginners of all ages, and successfully prepares those who aspire to be accomplished musicians, including THE CONSERVATORY PROGRAM preparation for professional careers.

This course of study combines an intense Access to the Conservatory’s myriad programs and instructors allows and demanding co-curricular music program students from Rivers to develop and polish their talent. The Conservatory (under the auspices of the Conservatory) with provides private lessons, theory classes, and ensemble work; Rivers students an equally rigorous academic program in the can draw on the expertise of 69 private instrumental and vocal music teachers.

Upper School at Rivers. For further information The faculty seek to help their students excel through frequent evaluation, and audition requirements, please contact workshops, and performance opportunities. It is their goal to guide students either the Rivers Admissions Office or The in developing competence, confidence, and a lifelong love of music.

Rivers School Conservatory.