MAGGIE MONAGHAN ’19 (RIGHT), MATT CRONIN ’19 (FAR RIGHT)
THE ARTS THE RIVERS SCHOOL EXCELLENCE WITH HUMANITY
FALL 2019
SCHOLASTIC ART AWARDS Rivers artists and creative writers once again had an impressive showing in the annual Massachusetts Scholastic Art and Writing Awards competition. Overall, students garnered 33 awards—six Gold Keys, nine Silver Keys, and 18 Honorable Mentions. Receiving Gold Key awards for studio art were: Jay Dieterle ’20, “The Injustice System” (ceramics & glass); Dylan Mentis ’20, “Very Skullful” (drawing & illustration); Maggie Monaghan ’19, “Our Shared Brokenness” (ceramics & glass); and Ayla Pfeffer ’22, “Memories Entwine” (ceramics & glass). Rivers students also received writing awards for work in a range of formats, from personal essays to poetry to short stories to critical essays. One student, Apsi Balamurugan ’20, earned three awards—two Gold Keys and a Silver Key. Another, Sylvie Pingeon ’21, won in both visual art (an honorable mention) and writing (a Silver Key). “It is great that so many of our student artists were honored for their
Rivers. “Our students earned recognition for their artwork in ceramics, sculpture, drawing, digital art, printmaking, and photography. Numerous Middle and Upper School
SISAL ART COMPETITION
students were honored, which is a great reflection on Rivers’ inclusive arts program, which helps each individual cultivate and articulate their creative vision.”
GEORGE REINHARDT ’20
creative expression in such a broad range of mediums,” said David Saul, chair of the visual arts department at
Rivers students earned 16 awards at the 2019 Small Independent School Arts League (SISAL) annual exhibition. More than 400 entries were submitted by the 15 participating schools in a variety of mediums, and were judged in two divisions: grades 6-8 and grades 9-12. Rivers students received four first place prizes, four second place prizes, three third place prizes, and five honorable mentions. “SISAL is a great opportunity for our student artists to showcase their diverse talents,” said David Saul, visual arts department chair. Rivers was represented by 36 artworks, with the 16 award-winners representing nine categories. Earning First Prize in the Upper School division were Lisa Byrne ’19 (printmaking), Michael Webber ’19 (sculpture), Aliesha Campbell ’20 (hand-built ceramics), and Chris Bucking ’19 (woodworking). Second prizes were awarded to Marina Joseph ’24 (painting),
ALIESHA CAMPBELL ’20
Matt Cronin ’19 (printmaking), Caleb Leeming ’19 (wheel-thrown ceramics), and Julia Bauriedel ’19 (photography). Third-prize winners were Lindsey Filoon ’21 (hand-built ceramics), Ashley Shegog ’19 (wheel-thrown ceramics), and Tully Mahoney ’19 (photography). And finally, Honorable Mention awards went to Lily Branka ’20 (sculpture), Dylan Mentis ’20 (hand-built ceramics), Max Meyerhardt ’21 (hand-built ceramics), Evan Roan ’19 (wheel-thrown ceramics), and Parker Weil ’19 (digital photography).
Four Rivers artists were recognized with awards in the Page Waterman Gallery’s Next Up! Arts competition. The show is a juried and highly selective exhibition drawing submissions from both public and private schools in Wellesley and adjacent towns. Out of 200 total submissions, 11 Rivers students were honored, including Abi Warwick ’19, who earned a First Prize in the two-dimensional art category for her pastel drawing “Model”. Receiving Honorable Mentions were: Caleb Leeming ’19, “A Study in Blue” (porcelain); Ashley Shegog ’19, “Tea Time” (stoneware); and George Reinhardt ’20, “Enlightened” (photography/gelatin silver print).
ABI WARWICK ’19
TOP HONORS
COMPETITIONS YIELD
MUSIC GOLD The exceptional music program at Rivers earns numerous awards and honors annually for its ensembles as well as individual musicians and performers. For the myriad musical groups at Rivers, the 2018-19 school year was another notable one. Following a rigorous audition process last November, nine Rivers students were accepted into the prestigious Senior District Music Festival hosted by the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA). Of those nine, six were recommended to audition for the All-State Music Festival. The six were Emilia DeJesus ’19 (chorus), Eliot Do ’21 (viola), Natalie Hall ’19 (chorus), Adelle Hart ’22 (chorus), Daniel Weitz ’20 (cello),and Lindy Billhardt ’19 (string bass). Billhardt also participated in All Eastern Orchestra in Pittsburgh in April. Accomplished pianist and composer Estelle Luong ’19 was awarded first prize in the Crescendo International Youth Competition in November. The Conservatory Program student’s win earned her a trip to the competition’s second round: a recital at New York City’s famed Carnegie Hall in January. Luong has
THEATER ARTS 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 Eleanor Welch Casey Theatre at nearby Regis College in Weston. Last fall, the Nonesuch Players invited audiences into the intimate story of Thornton Wilder’s classic Our Town. The talented cast of veterans and 10 newcomers brought to life the intricacies of love, tragedy, life, death, and family, all set against the backdrop of a quintessential New England town in the early 1900s. Our Town takes place in the small town of Grover’s Corners, NH, where the interweaving lives of the Webb and Gibbs families pass through the years. “In the divided times we live in, this play reminds us about the unity that we share, how we are absolutely the same at heart,” said director Juliet Bailey, who also teaches English, drama, and playwriting classes at Rivers. The winter musical, on the other hand, was unconcerned with poignant messages and fully devoted to showing the Rivers community a good time. Drawing inspiration from 1950s teen movies and the proliferation of shows featuring the undead, Zombie Prom tells the hilarious story of Toffee (Natalie Hall ’19), the classic good girl, and her friends as they eagerly anticipate their senior prom. In the midst of the excitement, bad boy Jonny (Caleb Leeming ’19) transfers to the school. After they meet during a “duck and cover” drill (it is the 1950s after all), they start going steady and fall in love. Toffee’s parents aren’t happy, however, and make her
participated in the Crescendo competition since 2008 and has always landed in first or second place. Last year was her ninth performance at Carnegie Hall. Six students from the upper and middle schools auditioned for regional MMEA junior district ensembles and later participated in a two-day music festival in March in ensembles drawn from the top music students in grades 7-9 in the Greater Boston area. The six included Isabelle Canty ’22 (chorus), Celina Chen ’22 (chorus), Ethan Kasparian Weisman ’24 (clarinet), Jacqueline Lee ’23 (mallets), Jonathan Liu ’24 (cello), and Alex Massarotti ’23 (chorus)
break up with him. Jonny, in despair, throws himself into a vat of nuclear waste. Weeks later, Jonny returns as a zombie. Filled with humor, colorful characters, and lively musical numbers (choreographed by Callie Kamanitz ’19), the show was a big hit. Perhaps the only people who enjoyed the production more than audiences were the cast and crew, who glowed about the experience of bringing the offbeat Off-Broadway show to life.
Meanwhile, 8th grader Katherine Liu added to her long list
The final play last year was the Middle School’s production of The Tempest, which played to packed audiences as well as rave reviews. Under the guidance of Middle School drama teacher Diane DeVore and co-director Julia Auster ’06, the talented band of performers vividly conjured Shakespeare’s enchanted island within the confines of the Black Box Theater. The tale of shipwreck and magic, monsters and spirits, might seem an ambitious undertaking for middle schoolers, but DeVore added her own spin, infusing the production with music, song, dance, and poetry. With the help of Dan Shaud, a teacher at the Rivers School Conservatory, some of the play’s well-known verses were set to music, while a live band of five students (conducted by faculty member John Bower) provided jazzy incidental music. A wedding dance and other memorably choreographed scenes also enlivened the production.
to winning a gold at this state-level competition, the judges
of awards and honors by taking first prize at the X Chopin International Piano Competition in Hartford, CT. At age 14, she is a seasoned veteran of the competition circuit. Liu, who entered Rivers in sixth grade, was also one of 14 young musicians chosen from around the world to participate in the Cliburn International Junior Piano Competition and Festival in Dallas in June. In jazz, the seven students who make up the Rivers Select 1 Combo earned gold at the MAJE state competition in April with a performance judges deemed “outstanding.” In addition recognized Michael Manasseh ’19 (drums), Joel Manasseh ’20 (bass), and Henry Lewis ’20 (piano) with outstanding musicianship awards. All three are students in the Conservatory Program. The win came on top of a gold medal earned by Rivers’ Honors Big Band in the MAJE senior district competition. Michael Manasseh was named the day’s MVP. Finally, Conservatory student Apsi Balamurugan ’20 received wide acclaim and was featured on WCVB Channel 5’s “A Plus” segment for her moving and ambitious musical composition, “Displaced”. The piece, which featured original music for the chamber orchestra, the Big Band, and the chorus, told the plight of refugees based upon Balamurugan’s parents’ experience immigrating to the US from Sri Lanka. “The subject is a very personal one for me. I wanted to pay homage to the refugee crisis by blending musical styles—classical, choral, and jazz—because the refugee crisis is a mixing of cultures,” the young composer said. The piece was performed several times by an ensemble of 45 students, notably at the conservatory’s 41st annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young in early April.
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 nearly 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. More than 100 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 preparation for professional careers. Access to the Conservatory’s myriad programs and instructors allows students from Rivers to develop and hone their talents. The Conservatory provides private lessons, theory classes, and ensemble work; Rivers students can draw on the expertise of 73 private instrumental and vocal music teachers. The faculty seek to help their students excel through frequent evaluation, workshops, and performance opportunities. It is their goal to guide students in developing competence, confidence, and a lifelong love of music.
ARTS FACULTY JULIET BAILEY teaches Upper School drama, Shakespeare, and playwriting electives; coordinates the school’s National Shakespeare Competition; and directs Upper School productions. Past shows include Burial at Thebes, Almost, Maine, The Laramie Project, The Comedy of Errors, She Kills Monsters, and Our Town. She joined the Rivers faculty in 1997 and in 2005 received the Mida van Zuylen Dunn Award for Teaching. Before Rivers, Ms. Bailey 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, she earned her MA from Middlebury College.
JOHN BOWER, tthe director of the Middle School Select Chorus and the Assistant Head of Middle School, is a graduate of Haverford College where he studied voice, music theory/composition, and French. He has performed in 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 voice faculty at The Performing Arts Connection in Sudbury, MA and he sings tenor in the Boston-based all-male a cappella group, “Redline.”
TIM CLARK, Upper School ceramics teacher, graduated from Skidmore College with a BS in Studio Art and a minor in Art History. Following graduation he apprenticed with Toshiko Takaezu, a renowned ceramic artist, for one year. After teaching for five years he returned to graduate school and earned his MFA in Ceramics from The School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology. This past year Mr. Clark exhibited work in two group exhibitions (in addition to the annual Rivers Arts Faculty exhibit): DeCordova’s Ceramic Sculpture Studio exhibition of outdoor ceramic sculpture and installations in Lincoln, MA and Collective Identity: The Legacy of Apprenticeship Under Toshiko Takaezu at the Noyes Art Garage in Atlantic City, NJ.
PHILIPPE CRETTIEN, the director of the Rivers jazz program and chair of the jazz department of the RSC, is a saxophonist who earned a degree in philosophy and literature from the French Lycee of London, a BM from Berklee College of Music, and is currently earning a master in jazz composition at UMass, Amherst. In addition to touring Europe and South America with his band, the Philippe Crettien Quartet, he has performed and recorded with John Medeski, Bill Lowe, Branford Marsalis, Andre Jaume, Andy Jaffe, Bill Baron, and Mr. Jelly Belly. Mr. Crettien has recently performed with bassist and composer Mario Pavone. In 2014 he released a new CD as band leader, entitled “November Dusk,” featuring RSC faculty.
DIANE DEVORE, Middle School drama teacher and school librarian, 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. In addition to Middle School drama classes, she also serves as director of the Middle School plays and musicals. Past productions have included A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shrek, Honk, and The Lion King.
THE CONSERVATORY PROGRAM This course of study combines an intense and demanding co-curricular music program (under the auspices of the Conservatory) with an equally rigorous academic program in the Upper School at Rivers. There is also a Middle School Conservatory Program that offers chamber or jazz ensembles and theory classes two afternoons a week. An audition is required as part of the application process to both the Middle and Upper School Conservatory Programs. For further information and audition requirements, please contact either the Rivers Admissions Office or The Rivers School Conservatory.
SUSAN EMMANOUILIDIS is the Choral Director for the Rivers
GABRIELLA SANNA, Director of the Conservatory and chair of
Upper School, where she teaches the Women’s and Men’s Choruses, as well as the Conservatory Program’s Vocal Performance Class and the award-winning Vocal Ensemble. She was the founding director of the Rivers School Conservatory’s Youth Chorus. Outside of Rivers she is the founding director of Brookline A Cappella, a small adult chorus. She sings in the Jameson Singers, a 60-member chorus based in Belmont. She has her master’s degree from New England Conservatory and is a certified Kodaly Instructor. Highlights of her choral life have been singing with Umbrian Serenades, a select vocal ensemble based in Italy, with her most recent experience with this group taking place last summer.
Rivers’ Performing Arts Department, has a master’s degree in piano performance from the Longy School of Music; an artist diploma in piano performance from the Accademia Internazionale di Novara, Italy; and a bachelor’s degree in piano performance from the Conservatorio di Musica “L. Canepa,” Sassari, Italy. She formerly served as Artistic Director of Steinway Society of Massachusetts Piano Competition, Assistant Director at the Dana Hall School of Music, and Chamber Music Director and Artist-in-Residence at Beaver Country Day School. Most recently, she was Executive Director at Project STEP (String Training Education Program).
RINDY GARNER teaches sculpture in the Upper School. She is a
Visual Arts Department Chair and photography teacher DAVID SAUL earned a degree in visual and environmental studies from Harvard University. He spends part of his summers hiking and photographing coastal locales throughout New England and Atlantic Canada. He has exhibited his panoramic and narrative photography at the Art Worcester galleries, Bentley College, Harvard, and the Fitchburg Art Museum.
graduate of the Maine College of Art where she majored in sculpture. In addition, she earned her MFA from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts. She works in wood, stone, and mixed mediums.
LILY GILLETT teaches 6th and 7th grade art, is the 7th grade dean, and coaches Middle School field hockey. She is also on the Middle School leadership team and is one of the performing and creative arts teachers. 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 media with a focus on printmaking and painting. Art teacher JEREMY HARRISON, who studied at Kenyon College and earned his MFA from the University of Iowa, is a painter, printmaker, and photographer. Much of his work reflects his ardent interest in the wilderness and remote landscapes.
PAUL HUBERDEAU, accompanist for Rivers’ choral ensembles, majored in music education at The New England Conservatory and studied piano privately with Patricia Zander of Harvard University. He has performed extensively as a soloist and accompanist in New York City and throughout the East Coast. He has worked as a teacher and music director at Regis College and with such local organizations as The Wellesley Players, The Weston Friendly Society of the Performing Arts, and The Turtle Lane Playhouse.
BILL JONES began his jazz studies at the University of New Hampshire and later earned his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory where he studied with Jerry Bergonzi, John McNeil, and George Garzone. As a performer, Mr. Jones plays regularly at venues in and around Boston including Wally’s, Ryles, The Beehive, Beat Hotel, and The Lilypad. Mr. Jones teaches jazz saxophone and ensembles at the University of Rhode Island. At Rivers, he teaches theory and private lessons and directs the Rivers Big Band and the Middle School Jazz Band. After playing Division I and professional soccer, Middle School art teacher CHRIS LOVE earned a BA in studio art degree from the University of Maryland. He later earned his master’s of arts and teaching from Tufts/ SMFA. In addition to teaching and coaching, he is currently working as lead drawing instructor at The Putney Summer Art Camp and facilitating professional development at The Multicultural Teaching Institute and designing innovative art curriculum that promotes identity development and social justice. Mr. Love has illustrated children’s books, designed album covers, hand-painted custom skateboards, as well as other commissioned works in private collections.
DAN SHAUD is coordinator of the Rivers School Conservatory Program, 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 the New England Conservatory of Music. Mr. Shaud recently received a Rivers faculty enrichment grant to attend the Walden School’s “Creative Musicians Retreat” in Dublin, NH, to further explore a love of musical composition and improvisation.
NICOLE WINTERS teaches drawing, painting and ceramics in the Upper School. She studied at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design and earned a BFA in art history and printmaking. In addition, she earned a MAT degree in Visual Arts Education from Tufts University in 2015. Ms. Winters works in a variety of mediums concentrating in printmaking and painting.
MARTA ZURAD, the string specialist for the Middle and Upper School Orchestras, received a bachelors of music degree from New England Conservatory and a graduate diploma and master of music degree from Longy School of Music. She also attended the Academy of Music in Krakow, Poland. She is a member of the Lexington Symphony, and has performed with many other orchestras in the Boston area. Ms. Zurad conducts the Preparatory String Orchestra at NEC, the Young People’s String Orchestra, the Petit Ensemble, and the Intensive Community Program Orchestra at BYSO. She is also on faculty at NEC and the Winchester Community Music School.