Upper School Arts Night Heads to Jordan Hall
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.
“Over the past few years, the US chamber orchestra and choruses have had the opportunity to perform in this world-class venue but the Big Bands have not,” said David Tierney, Rivers’ Performing Arts Department Chair and Director of The Rivers School Conservatory. "In addition, none of us have had the opportunity to hear each other perform. This concert in Jordan Hall revives a Rivers tradition of Arts Nights in which all of our music students can participate and support each other.”
Last week, some of Rivers’ top musicians—also members of the Upper School ensembles—pitted themselves against the state’s best to win five seats in the annual Massachusetts Music Educators Association’s All-State Festival at Symphony Hall in Boston on March 3. Chosen for the second year in a row for the jazz band were Michael Manasseh ’19 as percussionist and Joe Nedder ’18 on trombone. Also chosen this year were Lindy Billhardt ’19, string bass in the orchestra; Alex Clay ’18, clarinet in the band; and Simonida Spasojevic ’19, flute in the orchestra.
The annual All-State Conference, which the students will attend from March 1 through 3 at the Seaport Hotel, features master classes, concert hours, and casual concerts, and concludes with the Festival concert on Sunday. The conference is attended by 500 of Massachusetts’ top student musicians performing band, orchestral, jazz, and choral works.
Also auditioning successfully this weekend was Joshua Rocha ’21, for the chorus at the Junior Eastern District Festival on March 9 and 10 at Lincoln-Sudbury High School. Musicians in Grades 7-9 from the Boston and Metrowest area are eligible to audition for the Junior Festival.
Coming up, the Honors Big Band and the Select I combo will be competing at the Berklee High School Competition on Saturday, February 10. Meanwhile, both the Honors Big Band and Select Combo have submitted audition tapes for upcoming competitions: the annual Mingus Competition held in New York City in mid-April and the Essentially Ellington Competition in New York City in mid-May. Click here for a drop-down menu of their audio recordings.
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