Following a rigorous audition process, nine Rivers School students have been accepted into the prestigious Senior District Music Festival hosted by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association. Of those nine, six also have been recommended to audition for the All-State Music Festival.

The Nonesuch Players will stage an adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s American classic Our Town in the Black Box Theater on November 8, 9, and 10 at 7:00 p.m. Set in 1938 in the fictional town of Grover’s Corners, Wilder’s play offers a rare vision of our humanity. The town is populated with inhabitants who may seem old-fashioned and naïve, but in reality are very similar to us “in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying.” Tickets are $5 and may be purchased online.

Members of Rivers jazz ensembles are gearing up for their annual Jazz Festival on Saturday, November 10. The day-long festival will feature an afternoon of performances by small ensembles, directed by Dan Loschen, Phil Sargent, Sean Farias, and Bill Jones. The festival will end with a concert at 6:00 p.m. in Bradley Hall featuring the Middle School Big Band, the Rivers Big Band, the Select 1 and 2 Combos, and a joint performance by the Rivers Honors Big Band and the Dave Umstead Big Band.

The Rivers School Conservatory was thrilled to learn that Matthew Aucoin, acclaimed alumnus and commissioned composer for RSC’s 2017 Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young, is the recipient of a 2018 MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant.” Aucoin, who grew up in Natick and Medfield and studied piano at RSC with Sharon Schoffmann from 2002-2008, is a multi-talented musician—composer, conductor, writer, and pianist. He began composing music at the age of 10 and in recent years conducted the premieres of two of his operas—Crossing, at Boston’s American Repertory Theater, and Second Nature, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Thursday afternoon, Rivers’ Conservatory Program welcomed master saxophonist Dave Liebman for the first Conservatory Program master class of the year. Mr. Liebman, who has performed with renowned jazz artists Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, and Chick Corea to name a few, gave an outstanding master class to all of the Upper School and Middle School Conservatory Program students. Michael Manasseh ’19 and Henry Lewis ’20 performed with Mr. Liebman along with RSC faculty bassist Sean Farias.

This summer, Visual Arts teacher Tim Clark was fully immersed in the creation of ceramic objects, exploring both familiar and less familiar techniques of creating work. He was producing clay objects using his hands, the potter’s wheel, 3D printers (both clay and plastic printers), as well as using plaster molds as a means of creating ceramic forms. He took “Adventures in Slipcasting, Prototyping, and Mold-Making” at Harvard University’s Ceramics Program, participated in a wheel throwing workshop with artist Stuart Gair, and created the objects for a site specific art installation currently on view at  the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA. This outdoor exhibit runs through September 27.

This summer, Rivers’ jazz students have been attending a variety of summer jazz camps to advance their musical skills. Close to home, Calvin Carswell ’21, Kevin Kamanitz ’21, Calvin Smith ’21, and Jack Willard ’24, are all enrolled in the Rivers School Conservatory’s Summer Jazz Program, along with new Conservatory Program students, Frank Kasparian Weisman ’22 and Ethan Kasparian Weisman ’24. They’ve all enjoyed the mentoring of Rivers alumnus John Nydam ’15, a rising junior at Princeton University, who is majoring in music with certificates (minors) in jazz studies and computer science.

For the second year in a row, a Rivers artist garnered First Prize, in the Next-Up! art competition, hosted by the Page Waterman Gallery in Wellesley. Lisa Byrne ’19 received First Prize for her drypoint entitled Artist’s Hand. In addition, three Rivers artists received honorable mention: Joelle Mentis ’18, Self-Portrait, Oil on Canvas; Isabel Silvia ’18, Cascading, Porcelain; and Emily Smith ’18, Unity, Porcelain.

Fifteen classical musicians from Rivers participated in the MICCA (Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association) statewide solo and ensemble festival on Saturday, April 28th at Concord Carlisle High School. Five entries came away with gold "superior" ratings, and one soloist received a silver rating. In addition, three of the gold rated entries were recommended for the prestigious Honors Concert, which showcases the top performances from the day. Each adjudicator was only allowed to select one or two gold medal recipients from the day that they felt represented the highest level of performance, so Rivers’ musicians were well represented at the very top.

Three Rivers students were recognized this month for work submitted to the National Scholastic Art and Writing Competition. Ashley Burgarella ’18 won a Gold Medal for her short story entitled “Biography of Rosemary,” Gianny Cepeda ’18 won a Silver Medal for her photograph “Youthful Determination,” and Grant Regan-Loomis ’22, won a Silver Medal for his photograph “Cobweb.” All three pieces received Gold Keys in the Boston Globe Scholastic competition in January.

Rivers’ sophomore Apsara Balamurugan will be the only student represented as a composer in the upcoming 40^th Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young from April 6-8, 2018 at Bradley Hall. More than a dozen compositions will be premiered during the 3-day seminar which highlights music from the past 25 years, and has become a model for similar programs across the country and the world. “The Singing Wells” will be performed by Rivers’ Upper School Orchestra with Mr. Dan Shaud conducting during Sunday’s final concert at 5:00 p.m.

Members of Rivers’ Upper School Orchestra, Honors Big Band, and Men’s and Women’s choruses spent an exciting week performing and sightseeing in Vienna and Venice. During the trip all of the ensembles performed in both cities to enthusiastic audiences and students were able to sample the local music scene as well as the local cuisine. Go to @riversschoolconservatory on Facebook to see photos and videos of the trip.

Rivers’ Honors Big Band and Big Band both competed at the MAJE Senior District Competition on Wednesday, February 28 with great success. The Honors Big Band won a Gold Medal, while the Big Band—new this year and competing for the first time—won a Bronze Medal.

The Nonesuch Players presented an evening of slapstick comedy and double-takes with their production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" Thursday and Friday, February 22 and 23, at Regis College Performing Arts Center.

Rivers’ Honors Big Band and Select 1 Combo had an amazing experience at the 2018 Berklee High School Competition on Saturday, February 10. The Big Band won First Place – a first for Rivers, and the Select Combo won Fourth Place, in a competition that featured ensembles from more than 250 high schools across the nation, including performing arts schools. Michael Manasseh ’19 and Joe Nedder ’18 also won individual awards.

The results are in for this year’s Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, and there’s lots of good news to share with Rivers students winning 37 awards overall. No matter how you look at the numbers, they’re impressive. There were 6 Gold Keys, 13 Silver Keys and 18 Honorable Mentions in all, with 32 awards in art and 5 awards for writing. Five students received multiple awards, with one student, Isabel Hardy ’18 receiving Silver Keys in both categories, for photography and poetry. Joelle Mentis ’18 received an honorable Mention for her entire art portfolio—a first for a Rivers student. Eleven recipients were Middle Schoolers and 21 were Upper Schoolers.

Rivers’ Upper School musicians will gather in Jordan Hall in Boston for the traditional Upper School Arts Night on Sunday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. This is the first time that Arts Night will be held off-campus, and the first time the jazz ensembles will join their classical and choral counterparts in the world-renowned New England Conservatory concert hall. The Big Band, Honors Big Band, Select I Combo, Upper School Orchestra, and Men's and Women's Choruses will each take to the stage during the concert, which is free and open to the public.