@SPS Newsletter Spring 2024

Address service requested

325 Pleasant St, Concord, NH 03301 www.sps.edu

Spring 2024

IN HARMONY

For SPS Director of Music Orlando Pandolfi, magic is an everyday occurrence Last spring, Orlando “O” Pandolfi led members of the SPS orchestra in playing Saint-Säens’ Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra No. 1 with cellist Yo-Yo Ma in front of the entire St. Paul’s School community. So when he’s asked to describe a favorite moment from his 12-year tenure as head of the SPS music program, it’s natural to assume that experience might be at the top of his list.

THE SCHOOL TODAY:

2023-24 Admissions Cycle

141 New students

Coming to SPS from

24 U.S. states and 22 countries

Orlando Pandolfi conducts the SPS orchestra at a special chapel preview.

49% New students who self-identify as non-Caucasian

13% Acceptance rate as a percent of applications

$

42% New students who are receiving financial aid

What he says, however is, “Last night, actually,” then describes the orchestra’s first read-through of a piano concerto they will be performing later in the term.

Although the student pianist was at the rehearsal, Pandolfi assumed it would take several weeks of practice before the full group would be ready to play with her. “But I could see all the training they’ve had all year, and they were all responding quickly, so during the last 15 minutes I said, ‘okay, let’s bring in [the piano],’ and we got all the way through the movement. It made me think, ‘Wow! This is going to be great by the end of May.’ And that’s the kind of thing that happens all the time.”

A classical horn player and jazz vibraphonist who trained at Juilliard, Pandolfi came to SPS after several years as a professional performer and extensive teaching experience at the secondary school level. He says that what he loves about teaching high schoolers is that his students know how to learn. “And they know how to apply that ability to learn to whatever is interesting to them,” he adds. “As a school, we’re able to bring in serious music students who have been playing since the age of 3 or 4 and they then channel that same level of discipline toward other subjects while continuing to grow musically.”

The caliber of student musicians SPS attracts is among the reasons the School can offer a full orchestra despite the relatively small size of the student body and performance facilities that are a priority on the list of near-term campus upgrades. In a typical year, there are between 50 and 60 students who participate in the orchestra program, and roughly the same number who take instrument lessons, play in small groups

such as the jazz ensemble or sing in one of the SPS choirs. “That’s 20% of the student body or more,” Pandolfi says. “I’d say that’s pretty good.”

Over Pandolfi’s time at SPS, a number of musicians have gone on to outstanding college and conservatory programs.

Unsurprisingly, SPS student musicians also make a strong showing at the audition-based New Hampshire All-State Music Festivals that take place every April. In 2023, the School sent 29 instrumentalists to the All-State Orchestra and Concert band, the largest contingent by far among the 55 schools participating; 27 SPS musicians participated in the 2024 Classical All-State Music Festival.

On grounds, student musicians regularly perform as soloists or in small groups as part of the chapel program. This year, for the first time, the orchestra played a piece as part of the School’s Lunar New Year celebration, as well.

And then there are opportunities like last May’s performance with Yo-Yo Ma, who spent the day in Millville as the School’s Conroy Distinguished Visitor.

Pandolfi was the one who suggested that in addition to playing a solo piece Ma might also perform with the orchestra, and when Ma agreed, Pandolfi set himself the task of finding a cello concerto that a large group of students could learn quickly. “We started working on it and we really drilled it in,” he recalls. “When Yo-Yo got here, we only had one short run through, and he’s a pretty free player, so it was definitely some work to keep everyone with him. … but it ended up being pretty good.”

Pretty good indeed, and just one example on a long list of things that make the SPS orchestra program special.

—Kristin Duisberg

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Jack Bocresion ’24 embraces both ancient languages and modern mathematics A typical day for Joaquim “Jack” Bocresion ’24 can often seem like a high-wire intellectual balancing act — not that he’d have it any other way. His course load reflects his deep and varied passions: Latin 5 Honors, Greek 3 Honors, Advanced Chemistry and a math seminar in which he has begun to dive deep into number theory. There’s his work with the robotics team and the Classics Society, and on his own he’s pushed himself to bone up on abstract algebra, teach himself Sanskrit and read Ovid’s complete “Metamorphoses” in preparation for his upcoming Classical Honors capstone project on books and myths... in the original Latin, of course.

“I initially started reading the ‘Metamorphoses’ because I had thoroughly enjoyed my Fourth Form year in Latin 4 Honors, the poetry survey class, and I wanted to continue reading poetry, but at a faster pace with a focus on one work,” says the Sixth Former, who earned Dickey prizes for advanced math and Latin last spring. “I can become obsessed with things pretty quickly. But I love understanding new things and how the world around me works.”

Beyond the SPS grounds, Bocresion has served for the last two years on the board of the New Hampshire Junior Classical League, and he was one of a handful of students from across the state to participate in last year’s Latin Quiz Bowl. He says the allure of the classics is as much shaped by the sheer history of these ancient languages as it is by what’s still left to learn about the culture and civilizations that were built around them. “The people who spoke

Bocresion in the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science engineering and robotics lab.

Self-motivation and curiosity have long shaped Bocresion’s life. His Ethiopian-born father — a business consultant who speaks eight languages — and his Brazilian-born mother pushed Bocresion and his younger brother Luca ’26 to explore the world far beyond their New York City home.

“We were exposed to so many different things,” he says.

“Different languages, different cultures, different ways of living.”

By the time he was a teen, Bocresion had taught himself several different coding languages and worked part-time as a web developer for a string of different corporate clients. When his middle school Latin classes felt too thin, he gave himself additional homework to gain better command of the language’s grammatical structure. It was much the same when he arrived at SPS as a Fourth Former in the fall of 2021. Pointed toward art classes instead of Greek by his academic adviser, who was concerned about the new student taking on too many demanding courses at the start of his time at SPS, Bocresion spent the following summer break doing a year’s worth of classwork on his own. Not only did he teach himself well enough to join Greek 2 that fall, at the end of the year he earned the Oakes Greek Prize for the best examination on the writings of Xenophon.

Not surprisingly, Bocresion has made the most of his time at St. Paul’s, regularly straddling the centuries between the worlds of the ancients and 21st century mathematical thinking. He says the space between those two eras is not as far apart as one might think.

“It’s about new discoveries,” says Bocresion, whose plan for college includes double majoring in math and classics.

“Building on the body of human knowledge and passing that on to the next generation and gaining a better understanding of who we are.”

them are interesting and the physical objects that survived are also interesting,” he says. “So little actually did survive, and so now we are having to reconstruct those worlds. It’s a very collaborative field. You can build on the work of someone in the field today or you can build on the work of someone from a long time ago. That’s exciting.”

It’s much the same for Bocresion in his STEM work, in particular advanced math, which he says offers an important window into how the world works. “Math is fundamental,” he says. “The world is not math but math is a model for the world. You can abstract certain physical concepts and models for how the world works through it.

It’s super interesting and elegant and it has purpose.”

The latter, especially, is particularly potent for Bocresion.

When he was younger, he says, he admired the titans of technology, intrigued by their celebrity and wealth.

But in going deeper into his own interests, his priorities and what he wants his life to represent have shifted. In building on the work of past scholarship, Bocresion hopes he can help lay the groundwork for future generations to find new breakthroughs in understanding both our past and our future.

“I’m a problem solver,” he says. “I love that kind of work, where you have something you want to find, and you have knowns and unknowns. You have a mission and there are a ton of different paths you can take. The work you do can have an impact on the world. For me, it’s a question of how can I advance humanity and help us learn more about who we are and what’s possible.”

— Ian Aldrich

DID YOU MISS . . .

On Monday, March 25, the Rt. Rev. Bishop A. Robert Hirschfeld, 10th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, welcomed students back from their Spring Vacation with a SPRING TERM CONVOCATION on the subject of vocation. “How do we find our calling in life?” he asked. “By and large, a good rule for finding your vocation is this: the kind of work that God usually calls you to is the kind of work a. that you need to do, and b. that the world needs to have done.”

More than 450 members of the SPS community traveled to Johnson, Vermont, on April 8 to witness THE SOLAR ECLIPSE along the path of totality. It was a trip several years in the making, and a “life-changing” experience for students, teachers and administrators who took part in what for many will be a once-in-a-generation event. The next total solar eclipse in the continental United States will take place in 2044.

FOLLOW US ON . . .

St. Paul’s School (New Hampshire) St. Paul’s School Alumni

stpaulsschoolnh spsathletic

@StPaulsSchoolNH @spsathletic

Watch a video

SCIENCE, SERVICE AND SCHOLARSHIP

Lidia Zur Muhlen ‘24 named a Jefferson Scholar at UVA Massachusetts native Lidia Zur Muhlen ’24 has truly embraced the pursuit of excellence in character and scholarship during her four years at St. Paul’s School, from taking honors courses and completing a summer externship at Massachusetts General Hospital as a member of the School’s selective Applied Science and Engineering Program (ASEP) to playing varsity tennis and assisting members of the Concord community as a Sokoloff Grant recipient. With graduation on the horizon, she is now preparing for takeoff at the University of Virginia as a recipient of the highly competitive Jefferson Scholarship.

Similar to other prestigious university scholarships, the Jefferson is awarded by nomination only; high schools are invited to put forward a single outstanding senior who demonstrates excellence and exceptional potential in the areas of leadership, scholarship and engaged citizenship. What follows is a rigorous selection process — and the competition is steep. Last year, more than 2,300 students were nominated for the scholarship from schools in 47 U.S. states and territories and 49 countries. Approximately 30 Jefferson Scholars are named each year.

As well as covering the full cost of attendance at UVA, the scholarship will provide Zur Muhlen with enriched offerings that include individualized travel study, a semester at Oxford University, access to a network of Scholars and alumni, research opportunities, specialized courses, professional development and entrepreneurial opportunities and more. Zur Muhlen also will be an Echols Scholar at UVA, which will allow her to create an individualized, interdisciplinary major.

student newspapers, The Pelican and The Partisan (she’s served as editor-in-chief for both). Still, she says she wasn’t always sure where her strengths and interests lay.

“My Fourth Form year was really transformative … because I became really close with two of my teachers,” Zur Muhlen says. “They both helped me to gain confidence in myself and [their] areas of study, STEM and humanities. I think that’s part of coming here — you can find those adults who you’re really close with and that really transforms your experience.”

“I am most excited to be a part of a group of highly motivated individuals who all come from very different backgrounds,” says Zur Muhlen. “It will be extremely beneficial to be part of such a tight-knit cohort.”

Zur Muhlen also credits her ASEP experience and her 2023 externship with reaffirming her decision to pursue science in college, potentially along the global health route. That interest dovetails nicely with her commitment to service. Last year, she raised funds for a generator at a Ukrainian orphanage, and used her Sokoloff Grant to work with the nonprofit Family Promise of Greater Concord to support families in their rotating shelter program. This year, she’s been working with the Concord nonprofit Friends of Forgotten Children, where she and several other SPS students cook weekly meals.

While the official nomination and selection process began in summer 2023, Zur Muhlen has been on the path toward distinction for academics and community leadership since she arrived on campus.

She’s earned First Testimonials with Honor every year while taking honors courses in Spanish, chemistry and calculus, among others; competing as a member of several varsity athletic teams; and writing for the

Now, with just weeks remaining to her time at SPS, Zur Muhlen is looking forward not only to further exploring her academic, athletic and service-oriented interests at UVA, but also to discovering new pursuits.

“The university has so much to offer, and I am excited to find things I like and don’t like and begin to home in on what truly interests me,” she says. “With the Jefferson [Scholarship], the possibilities are endless.”

—Jacqueline Primo Lemmon

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH

Science Teacher and Student Council Adviser Erin Ruane Erin Ruane was the kid who asked for a chemistry set for her eighth birthday, spurred on by her pursuit of answers that in turn would lead to still more questions — a quality that she inherited from her parents. Her dad was manager of an environmental lab and her mom was a pharmacist, so “I think in some ways it’s almost genetic,” Ruane says. “Science has always been a part of my life.”

Ruane joined the St. Paul’s School community in 2021 to teach chemistry and physics following seven years as a teacher, dorm parent, adviser and coach at The Hill School in her native Pennsylvania. Today, she says, one of her favorite things is working in the Lindsay Center for Mathematics and Science labs with her students. “Watching the kids put two things together, and it changes color, and they’re just like, ‘how did that happen?’ That piece is just so much fun to watch and be a part of,” Ruane says as she sits at a table in one of the labs. “And with my experience as a kid loving those things, being able to show that to my students, too, it’s just really fun.”

Q1

What drew you to St. Paul’s School?

Q2

What is the most rewarding experience you’ve had teaching here?

Q3

What puts a smile on your face in the morning?

Q4

Is there a piece of advice you have for the SPS community?

Q5

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

After I saw the job posting, it was almost like love at first sight. I just felt a deep connection to SPS and the whole piece of living into our values of bearing the burdens of others and always remembering to be kind. It shines through everything that we do here. I’m a boarding school teacher through and through and I don’t think I could ever work anywhere else.

I love teaching my students, but the most rewarding piece for me was being asked to be the Student Council faculty adviser this year. Seeing the Sixth Form officers take on these leadership roles and helping them think about [questions like,] “How can I lead this School in a direction that’s really important to us, that lives into our values?” That has been so much fun and really rewarding. What I love about boarding school is that everywhere, you’re teaching — you’re teaching on the fields [or] in LinC class or you’re teaching as you’re walking down the hallways. Just being able to be a part of this influential time of their lives, it’s really special. I feel like I’ve been very lucky this year.

So many things. Actually, one of the reasons why my husband and I chose St. Paul’s is because I really love snow and the seasons. We have a Husky puppy and she loves the snow, so knowing that she gets excited about it makes me super happy. And, just starting the day. I love going to chapel; I love the fact that we get to spend that time together in the morning.

Hearing the students speak or watching a student performance or listening to a guest speaker not only helps me clear my brain, but it also helps center myself for that day.

Be fearless; all will come at the right time. You can put yourself out there and you can take risks. It’s something I need to remind myself. Have that difficult conversation, advocate for yourself. I truly believe that I’ve come to a place where I’m supposed to be, and I’m learning and growing at a time when I’m supposed to be here.

I’m a huge Formula One racing fan. I will wake up very early on Sunday mornings to watch the races that are happening in Europe or across the world. I’m getting ready for that Japanese Grand Prix this weekend. There’s strategy and engineering that goes into designing the cars, and all of the physics and chemistry, and it’s so much fun to watch.

—Jacqueline Primo Lemmon

SPRING IN BLOOM An April 4 nor’easter left us briefly wondering if it really was spring in Millville, but now the tulips on the hill behind the Chapel of St. Peter and St. Paul are up, the showy white magnolia between Schoolhouse and the Dance Building is in full flower and the first few student hammocks are appearing in front of the dorms. With a little more than a month until the end of the school year, we’ve welcomed an admiral and an ambassador, several artists and 125 soon-to-be students; hosted athletic contests across our fields and Turkey Pond; put on a sustainability-focused Spring Term LinC Day; observed religious and cultural holidays and much more.

With Anniversary Weekend happening while the Spring Term is still in full swing this year, we now look ahead to Graduation Weekend, May 31-June 2.

VIEW A SHOWCASE GALLERY OF RELATED VIDEOS