Newtown High School Blog

The Newtown High School Chamber Choir and Singers will perform a special program at the 9/11 American Flag Living Memorial on Rt. 302 on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 3:00 pm. This program is in honor of those whose lives were lost on September 11, 2001 with the hope of encouraging others to donate blood, “making a difference in the lives of others in memory of those whose lives were lost.” The choral students will sing patriotic and reflective music for the event.

Students in the Music Department have just completed the fifth annual AP Music Theory Reading Sessions coordinated by music theory/technology teacher Chris Lee. Each of the 19 students in our AP Music Theory class composed a short, original work using the 4-voice chorale structure studied in class. These compositions were then read by the talented members of our Newtown High School Symphony Orchestra and Newtown High School Chamber Choir. Read the rest of this entry »

Attention students enrolled in AP courses next year: Many AP courses require that students complete a summer assignment. Information about AP summer assignments will be available on June 1, 2010 in department offices and on department web pages.

Annually, Newtown High School Choral Parents present graduating seniors who have made a significant contribution to the Newtown High School Choral Program with scholarships to assist in furthering their education. John Daniel Knapp, Bianca Crudo, Hannah DeFlumeri, and Andrew Nichols were announced as the recipients during the Spring Concert held on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 at NHS by NHSCP President Colleen McMorran and Lynn Williams.

J.D. will be pursuing a career in Broadcast Journalism at Emerson College in Boston, Bianca a career in Theatre Performance at Fordham Lincoln Center, Hannah in Musical Theater at Ithaca College and Andrew a double degree in Communications and Music Performance at Hamilton College also in New York. Congratulations to this year’s recipients!

The first annual String Jam-Fest will take place on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7PM in the Newtown High School Lecture Hall. String players of all ages will be playing music ranging from Beethoven to Legend of Zelda. Everyone is welcome to attend! Door prizes and refreshments will be provided. Admission fee is a non-perishable donation to the Newtown Food Pantry. Any string players interested in participating should speak to Alyssa Rodriguez or email her at silverdure@yahoo.com.

Newtown, Connecticut has been selected as a 2010 Best Community for Music Education in the nation by the NAMM Foundation!  Read about it here

Junior Terence Lee and music theory teacher Chris Lee traveled to Hartford on April 8, 2010 to attend the annual Music Composition Festival hosted by the Connecticut Music Educators Association (CMEA). Participants took part in several break-out sessions covering such topics as melody writing, song writing, jazz composition, and mixing of drum beats. In addition, students were briefed on the steps they will follow to submit their original compositions online. In addition to Terence, senior Patrick Harris will be submitting a composition for consideration for the 2011 Festival.

Newtown High School Choral Parents is hosting a multi-family tag sale this Saturday, March 20, 2010 in the high school cafeteria from 9 am to 3 pm. The sale will raise funds for the upcoming choral students’ trip to Quebec in April. A large assortment of household items, books, tools, toys, and sports equipment will be on sale, plus baked goods and free coffee.

Congratulations to Alyssa Rodriguez and Zachary Bokuniewicz for being selected as recipients of the Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) Outstanding High School Visual and Performing Arts Award.  The two students will be honored with other recipients from across the state on April 27, 2010 at the Aqua-Turf in Southington, CT.

Newtown High School Choral Parents is hosting a multi-family tag sale this Saturday, February 27, 2010 in the high school cafeteria from 9 am to 3 pm. The sale will raise funds for the upcoming choral students’ trip to Quebec in April. A large assortment of household items, books, tools, toys, and sports equipment will be on sale, plus baked goods and free coffee.

Orchestra teacher and Music Department Chair, Michelle Hiscavich, is seen performing with the Newtown High School String Ensemble at Thursday’s breakfast for the visiting Chinese delegation. The String Ensemble is highly regarded for their ability to enhance the ambiance of every venue they attend.

The Connecticut Music Educators Association would like to extend congratulations to the Newtown High School Chamber Choir on their acceptance to perform at the CMEA In-Service Conference April 8-10, 2010 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Groups who have been accepted represent the finest in music teaching and learning in the state and will serve as exemplary models of performance for our membership.

-Dale Griffa, President-Elect, CEMA

Students in Music Technology courses have been creating interesting music this past semester! For one assignment, called “Speech Remix,” students are asked to create musical “sound-scapes” using their own recorded voice as a raw ingredient. Click below to hear two short collages of student examples: Collage 1 features Nicholas Shannon and Kevin Brown; Collage 2 features Nicholas Lafky and Terence Lee. In addition to extensive audio manipulation, you will hear excellent use of the arpeggiator, a software tool that transforms simple chord progressions into virtuosic streams of notes!

Music Tech Collage 2

Music Tech Collage 1

Congratulations to Newtown High School Choral Director John Harned for being selected to represent Connecticut in this year’s annual ‘Choral Directors of Note’ feature, to be published in the January issue of Choral Director Magazine.  We will let you know when the article comes out!

It’s out and you can find it here – http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/9059a52f

Students in the Music Technology Lab have been busy learning our suite of software and creating great original music. Projects have included loop-based songs, a 12-bar blues, an audio remix, and film scoring. Click below to see one outstanding example: a video clip from Disney’s “Fantasia” set to music by Nicholas Dickinson, a sophomore in Music Technology 3.  View it – Nicholas Dickinson – Fantasia (it’s a QuickTime Movie, 3.3 MB)

In other news, Music Technology teacher Chris Lee recently joined a contingent of Newtown music teachers to attend a seminar outlining recent trends in audio production software. Hosted by Apple, the event featured experts from SoundTree and CUNY demonstrating developments in the recording, editing, and mixing of musical material. This knowledge will prove useful as we carry out planning and implementation for the updated NHS Music Technology Lab.

There are several youth orchestras in the greater Fairfield County area. Auditions are held each year for high school musicians interested in pursuing music outside their traditional school day. They come together with musicians from other schools to rehearse and perform under the baton of gifted conductors, sharing the common love of music. Read the rest of this entry »

The Newtown High School Symphony Orchestra will premier a new piece at the December 8, 2009 winter concert. The piece is entitled Sky Pirates and was written by Newtown senior Alyssa Rodriguez. Alyssa is a violinist in the ensemble and was a member of Christopher Lee’s AP Music Theory class last year. This composition was a culminating project in the theory class and sight-read by the orchestra on Student Composition Day in June. Alyssa continued to work on the piece over the summer and consulted with Mr. Lee when she returned to school in September. This composition is exciting and energetic. Driving rhythms are offset with contrasting menacing and triumphant melodies above. Alyssa was influenced and inspired by composer Dvorak and his New World Symphony as well as music from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Music students have been busily preparing for their Western Region Music Festival auditions over the last few months. This is the first step in the All-State process. On November 21 they had their chance and of the 60+ students who auditioned, 27 were selected to participate in this year’s festival. On January 15 and 16 they will join other talented high school musicians from Fairfield County at New Canaan High School for two days of rehearsal and concert. Read the rest of this entry »

The Newtown High School Chamber Ensemble was invited to perform for the swearing-in ceremony that took place at the Newtown Municipal Center on November 23. Special guests included Governor Jodi Rell, newly elected First Selectman Pat Llodra, former First Selectman Joe Borst and town officials. The group performed a variety of American music as pre and post-ceremony interludes, including Yankee Doodle (the official state song), Chester, America, Columbia Gem of the Ocean and a variety of fiddle tunes.

The musicians standing with Governor Rell and First Selectman Joe Borst and newly sworn-in First Selectman Pat Llodra are Alyssa Rodriguez, Wending Lu, Shannon Zamary, Erin Bell, Gretchen Streett, and Felicia Pan.

Introducing www.nhschoral.com, the website for everything happening in the Newtown High School choirs and musicals.

Stay up-to-date with upcoming auditions and performances as well as hear recent recordings of the choirs at Newtown High School! Check it out!

Kick off the holiday season with an evening of music, merriment, and whimsical nonsense by attending the Singers 5th Annual Madrigal Dinner. Performing music from the Renaissance to the Beatles, the Singers, with help from the court Jesters, will perform skits of fabulous fancy throughout the evening. In addition to a delectable dinner, you can participate in the 50/50 raffle, bid on fabulous local items in the silent auction, and send your friends to the stockade (for such crimes as telling unsavory tales, and the picking of teeth at the table). Fun for the whole family, this year’s Madrigal Dinner is sure to delight! Visit www.nhschoral.com for more information.  View the flyer here: Madrigal Dinner

Early this fall, the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras (GBYO) held auditions for the 2009-2010 season.  Over 230 young musicians in grades 4-12 were selected for membership in the GBYO’s four orchestras.  Newtown High School is proudly represented by Jane Ellen Anderson, Rachel Fintz, and Alyssa Rodriguez.

If you would like to see these young musicians perform, the GBYO concert series for the 2009-2010 season includes the following performances: Sunday, November 15, 2009, 3:00 pm, Klein Auditorium; Sunday, February 28, 2010, 3:00 pm, Klein Auditorium; Saturday, April 24, 2010, Roger Ludlowe Middle School; Sunday, May 16, 2010, 3:00 pm, Klein Auditorium.

Congratulations Jane Ellen, Rachel, and Alyssa!

Members of the Newtown High School Chamber Ensemble performed at the opening of the Newtown Friends of Music 32nd concert season on Sunday, October 18 at Edmond Town Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

John Harned, the Choral Director at Newtown High School, will be directing the Berkshire League Honor Chorus at the Berkshire League Music Festival Concert this evening at Terryville High School, in Terryville, CT. The concert is at 8:00 P.M., and tickets will be available at the door. Read the rest of this entry »

This past June, the Newtown High School Music Department held our 4th Annual Orchestral Reading Session. Brand new works composed by AP Music Theory students were given a first reading by the NHS Symphony Orchestra (conducted by AP Music Theory teacher Chris Lee). Click below to hear a podcast of that event.

2009 Orchestral Reading Session

Creativity is flourishing in the Music Technology classroom! Students in our three levels of Music Tech have found expression in a wide variety of projects utilizing such procedures as MIDI recording, audio processing, and film scoring. This short video highlights some compelling student compositions from the 2008-09 school year.

nhs-music-tech-2008-09-short

Students may pick up Advanced Placement Summer Assignment information from Department Chairpersons on Tuesday, May 19th.

Newtown High School Choral Director John Harned has been selected to be the guest choral conductor for the 2009 Berkshire League Music Festival. Choral students from ten high schools will be selected to participate in this music festival which takes place in October each year. Congratulations, Mr. Harned!

Attention all students who have a garage band or student run band of any musical style. This may be the opportunity you have been looking for to be discovered and launch your musical career. The Connecticut Association of Schools is sponsoring the first event of it’s kind in the state, the ultimate statewide battle of the bands… Bandjam 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

Newtown High School student musicians provided music for this year’s Holiday House Tour

Erin Bell (9th grade) has been selected to participate in the 2009 Fairfield County String Festival in March. Selection for this festival is based on audition. Erin is a violinist in the Newtown High School Symphony Orchestra.

23 Newtown High School music students were selected to participate in the 2009 Western Region Music Festival sponsored by the Connecticut Music Educators Association. The festival will be Read the rest of this entry »

Kevin Walsh (right, below) and Andrew Nichols (left, below) have been selected to sing with the All-Eastern Chorus as Bass II and Tenor II respectively.  Chosen based upon their All State auditions last year, they will represent the Eastern Region at the 2009 MENC Eastern Division Conference in Providence, RI (March 12, 2009 – March 15, 2009).  Congratulations!

Andrew Nichols, a junior, has performed Read the rest of this entry »

The Newtown High School Singers are pleased to invite you and yours to their Madrigal Feaste.  $38 ($17 for ages 2-10) includes dinner, entertainment, and whimsical nonsense.  Read the rest of this entry »

In late August, the Greater Bridgeport Youth Orchestras (GBYO) held auditions for the 2008-2009 season.  More than 240 young musicians in grades 4-12 were selected for membership in the GBYO’s four orchestras.  Newtown High School is proud to be represented by Jane Eleen Anderson, Rachel Fintz, Alyssa Rodriquez, and Calvin Song.  Congratulations!

If you are interested in seeing the musicians in action, the GBYO has performances scheduled for Sunday, November 16, 2008 (Klein Auditorium), Sunday, March 1, 2009 (Klein Auditorium), Saturday, March 21, 2009 (Roger Ludlowe Middle School), and Sunday, May 4, 2009 (Klein Auditorium).  For more information, please contact Barbara Upton, GBYO Executive Director, at 203.459.4249.

The Newtown Nighthawks Marching Band and Guard is hosting the 13^th Annual Grasso Festival at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 18, 2008.  Bands will be coming from all over the county and state to perform at this year’s festival. Come enjoy the celebration and pageantry of the competition. The Newtown High School Marching Band has been Class IV MAC Champions and has won first place in the four competitions they have participated in so far this year.

On October 15, 2008, The Newtown High School Choirs will present the first of their concerts at 7:00 p.m. The concert is a “Preview Concert” in which all choirs will perform their repertoire for the first time. It will give students and their teacher an opportunity to critique the work they have done to date so that they can then perfect the music for the Winter Concert on December 16.

The Fine and Applied Arts department is in the process of planning an all-encompassing Arts Festival to be held during the final weeks of the school year.  It will showcase student work from all areas of the Fine and Applied Arts as well as the Performing Arts.