Arts in the News

More than 40 Milton students received recognition in the 2018 Massachusetts Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. The students earned 78 Gold Key, Silver Key or Honorable Mention accolades in the competition, a “banner year” for the School, says English department faculty member Lisa Baker. The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards began in 1923 and are considered the most prestigious awards for teenagers in the country. Milton’s 21 Gold Key pieces are submitted to the national Scholastic competition, and results for the national contest will be announced in March.

Hannah Neri ’18 received seven awards for painting and photography. Hannah says she is inspired to “define beauty for myself and find beauty in my surroundings.”

“My work, at least this year in oil painting, centers around creating confrontational and non-idealistic portraits and I think I do that well in my portrait of my friend, Hannah H. My photography, for the most part, takes place when I’m travelling. I love photography because it is one of the most portable forms of art. I don’t have a certain photography style; I just try to capture what I find interesting or beautiful. At Milton, I’ve become more relaxed as an artist. I’ve forced myself to work faster and more loosely, focusing more on elements of play and creation rather than tedious, but perfect, replication. Visual art challenges me to explore the unknown. When I start a painting, I have no idea how it will actually turn out. I can plan out the composition of the canvas, but when I go to create the colors I want or go to put paint on to canvas I can only hope that when I step back from the canvas, I’ve created something that I like.”

Adi Gandhi ’18 received two Gold Key awards, including one for a writing portfolio, along with an honorable mention for his poem “Mango Picking.” “Before coming to Milton, I was very interested in writing, and would write on my own, but without any professional guidance. Milton has an outstanding English department and offers courses in creative writing. I took full advantage of these offers. My creative writing teacher, Mr. Connolly, has been fundamental to helping me grow as a writer. As he likes to say to his students, he is my ‘reader’ and not my teacher. The resources and support I found at Milton have allowed me to grow so much as a writer.”

Complete list of award winners

(GK: Gold Key; SK: Silver Key; HM: Honorable Mention)

Ann-Josephine Auguste (I), HM Poetry: Black Girl

Eliza Barrett-Cotter (III), GK Poetry: Lies

Eliza Barrett-Cotter (III), SK Poetry: Ghazal for a Love Story

Erin Brady (II), SK Drawing and Illustration: Distorted Portrait

Andrew Chan (I) GK Poetry: Sonnet

Andrew Chan (I) GK Poetry: The Raven

Andrew Chan (I) GK Poetry: What I Own

Andrew Chan (I) SK Poetry: Exodus

Malia Chung (III) HM Poetry: The Art of Eight Limbs

Alyssa Dunn (II) GK Poetry: Dear Grandpa,

Serena Fernandopulle (II) SK Poetry: Hit Her

Aditya Gandhi (I) GK Poetry: Fasting during Navratri

Aditya Gandhi (I) GK Writing Portfolio: Scenes from a Black-and-White Western

Aditya Gandhi (I) HM Poetry: Mango Picking

Hannah Hachamovitch (I) SK Art Portfolio: My Art Canon.

Sophia Hitt (II) GK Printmaking: Save The Bees

Sophia Hitt (II) HM Photography: halibut #2

Sophia Hitt (II) SK Painting: self portrait

Sophia Hitt (II) SK Photography: alaska

Edowaye Idahor (I) SK Poetry: Police Brutality

Ainsley Iwanicki (III) SK Ceramics & Glass: Wood Waves

Kiely Johnson (II) SK Poetry: Old Friend

Dong Ju Kim (I) HM Painting: Play With Me

Lucy Landau (I) HM Mixed Media: Apples

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) GK Sculpture: Meat Coat

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) GK Drawing and Illustration: Nostalgia

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) GK Printmaking: Kitty Cones

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) SK Painting: Dew Drops

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) Silver Key Painting: Rainy City

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) Silver Key Sculpture: The Ecosystem

Jiseo (Sophie) Lee (I) Silver Key Design: Butterflies and Bees

Victoire Legrand (I) HM Poetry: Elegy for my Body

Victoire Legrand (I) HM Poetry: What I’m Sorry For

Max Li (I) SK Short Story: Blessings

Kelly Tsing Sum Lo (I) GK Poetry: a letter to the teachers who never did get my name right

Caroline McCarthy (I) HM Sculpture: The Playground

Tatiana Meyer (II) HM Poetry: Unbecoming

Tatiana Meyer (II) SK Poetry: Mix

Anna Mikhailova (II) HM Sculpture: Sagittarius

Alexandra Millard (I) SK Poetry: Husked

Edward Moreta Jr. (I) GK Poetry: Tuesday, May 30th, 1961

Hannah Neri (I) GK Painting: Gentle Stern

Hannah Neri (I) GK Painting: Squeeze

Hannah Neri (I) GK Photography: Death of Tsujiki

Hannah Neri (I) GK Photography: Family of Five

Hannah Neri (I) GK Photography: Oblivion

Hannah Neri (I) SK Painting: Pretty in Pink

Hannah Neri (I) SK Photography: Anchoring to Umapad

Beatrice Ojuri (I) SK Poetry: Take a Moment

Toya Ora (I) SK Poetry: Seven Trouble

Akua Owusu (II) SK Poetry: Bonding, Bleaching

Alexandra Paul (I) SK Poetry: Find Yourself

Jenna Peters (III) HM Poetry: College Graduate

Liv Pouliot (III) HM Poetry: Your Ring

Liv Pouliot (III) SK Poetry: Teddy Bear

Claire Raposo (I) SK Poetry: Rock City Road and Hartigan at 7:30

Amaya Sangurima-Jimenez (II) HM Painting: The Ecuadorian Working Girl

Navpreet Sekhon (I) HM Painting: Hot Cheeto

Nina Subkhanberdina (I) HM Painting: Koi Fish

Evita Thadhani (III) HM Poetry: Villanelle for a Hospital Waiting Room

Evita Thadhani (III) HM Poetry: Drunk

Alexandra Upton (I) HM Poetry: Parallelograms

Alexandra Upton (I) SK Short Story: Stars

Abigail Walker (I) HM Poetry: Last Sunday Night

Abigail Walker (I) SK Poetry: Euphemisms

Abigail Walker (I) SK Flash Fiction: Taking Out the Trash

Jessica Wang (I) GK Short Story: Child From the Stars

Jessica Wang (I) GK Poetry: Raw Meat

Jessica Wang (I) GK Writing Portfolio: Child From the Stars

Hannah Widerman (II) GK Poetry: Aubade

Hannah Widerman (II) HM Poetry: Half Daydreams

Hannah Widerman (II) HM Critical Essay: Boundaries

Peter (Young Yoon) Won (II) GK Ceramics & Glass: Don’t Stop Running

Jonathan WuWong (I) GK Ceramics & Glass: Nymphaeaceae

Jonathan WuWong (I) HM Ceramics & Glass: Stratus

Jonathan WuWong (I) SK Ceramics & Glass: Cornucopia

Erika Yip (III) HM Poetry: Princess

Erika Yip (III) SK Poetry: Penny Girl

On Saturday, February 10, Milton Academy jazz musicians took part in the 50th Annual Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. The event is the country’s largest high school jazz festival with over 225 student groups, made up of 3,000 students from 13 states, participating in the day’s activities. The competition included high school ensembles from every corner of the map from California to Washington, D.C., and New England to Puerto Rico. The groups’ performances were judged by a panel of Berklee faculty. Competing in the medium- to large-sized high school combo category, Milton’s senior combo placed third and was awarded scholarship support for two students to attend Berklee College five-week summer music program. Coalter Palmer (I) also received a judge’s award for outstanding musician of his combo.

Milton’s winners (pictured here from left to right) are John Minicus (I), drums; Will Goldberg (I), cello; Bob Sinicrope, director; Coalter Palmer (I), soprano sax; Alex Chen (I), tenor sax; Jonah Garnick (I), guitar; Vijay Karle (I), bass; Danny Little (I), baritone sax; Cameron Shockley-Okeke (I), piano; Jane Yang (I), piano, alto sax; and Jesse Williams, director.

Watch the group rehearse in Kellner’s jazz room.

Milton’s fall performing arts schedule features original comedy sketches, a new Class IV musical tradition and Shakespeare’s most famous star-crossed lovers.

Inspired by the Ziegfeld Follies and other revue shows, the Class IV play is a collection of songs, poetry, short scenes and music, specifically tailored for the Class IV actors. The material explores the journey from birth to death and the production is titled: The Class IV Follies: The Tree of Life. There are songs from modern musicals and the classics; scenes from plays, sketch comedies and films; and poetry ranging from Shakespeare to Maya Angelou. The Class IV play is a long-standing performing arts tradition involving the entire class.

“It promises to be a fun, exciting, and moving evening featuring our amazing Class IV actors,” says Eleza Moyer, performing arts faculty member. “We hope to make Follies a Class IV play tradition. Also fun to note: many upperclassmen are volunteering their time in roles such as assistant music director, assistant director, stage manager and featured choreographer.”

The fall play is a modern take on Romeo and Juliet, featuring 11 student actors with Clara Wolff (II) as Juliet and Devon Whalen (III) as Romeo. The setting is an abandoned warehouse in an unnamed city where a group of youths regularly hang out. They decide to put on the Shakespeare tragedy. Performing arts faculty member Shane Fuller says the production uses the stage in a unique way—an alley theatre. Students are playing multiple characters, mixing up gender and incorporating some dance and movement pieces.

And the final production of the fall is the 1212 Play, which brings a taste of Saturday Night Live to Wigg Hall. Wicked Sketchyis an original production made up of sketches written and performed by students. In this production, there are 13 actors, three of whom are Wicked Sketchy veterans. Performing Arts Chair Peter Parisi said this is the fourth production of Wicked Sketchy and there will be at least one returning character from previous performances.

Class IV Follies begins Thursday, November 2, and Friday, November 3, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, November 4, at 7 p.m.

Romeo and Juliet begins Thursday, November 16, and Friday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, November 18 at 7 p.m.

Wicked Sketchy begins Thursday, November 30, and Friday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, December 2 at 7 p.m.

Adrian Anantawan has toured the world as a violin soloist and performed on some of the most prominent stages, but this year marks the beginning of a different kind of adventure: being a house parent to the boys of Forbes House.

“Sitting down at a dinner table and hearing young men talk about things that are really intellectual, and at the same time really having fun, is wonderful,” says Adrian, Milton’s new music department chair. “Getting to know them is a highlight.”

Adrian takes the baton from Don Dregalla, who retired after more than three decades of teaching music at Milton. Adrian is teaching the Middle School strings and winds, Upper School orchestra, Chamber Orchestra and general music in the Upper School.

Born in Canada, Adrian has been playing the violin since he was around 10, and he performed professionally for the first time at 15. He has performed at the White House, in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in both Athens and Vancouver, and at the United Nations. Audience members have included Pope John Paul II and the Dalai Lama.

He received his undergraduate degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and graduate degrees from Yale University and the Harvard School of Education. His first teaching job was at the Conservatory Lab Charter School, a K-8 program in Boston. When Don announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, Adrian jumped at the opportunity.

“Positions like this are hard to find in music education, because people love working at schools like Milton. These positions rarely open up,” he says. “It was very happenstance.”

Adrian credits mentor Indu Singh, Milton’s dean of teaching and learning, with helping him to acclimate to life at Milton. The School has been accommodating of the performance schedule that he has had in place for more than a year, so he was able to go on a tour through Asia early this fall.

He describes his teaching style as based in modeling skills, not just in the technical aspects of music theory or performance: “One of the big things in music is modeling what listening looks like, how it feels, and what it means to have a dialogue. I’m much more interested in finding out where their interests might lie, versus prescribing things for them to think about. I want to give them the tools to express themselves in more forceful, meaningful ways.”

Adrian hopes to eventually increase student performers’ repertoire choice and explore different genres of music in classes, but noted that there is a strong foundation in place at Milton.

“I think it’s important for the students to have a say in the work that they’re presenting to people,” he says. “I do think we’re going to have at least a year where we’re just doing minor tweaks and sustaining a culture that has been the legacy for Don Dregalla for the last 35 years.”

He also plans to continue his advocacy for music education for people with physical, cognitive and emotional disabilities, both at Milton and beyond. “Music should be a point in which those differences are actually strengths, not weaknesses,” he says.

Adrian, who was born without a right hand, started playing the violin at his parents’ encouragement.

“I think we started with the idea of me playing the recorder, but I didn’t have enough fingers. So, we thought maybe I could study voice? But I didn’t have a great voice,” Adrian says. “Trumpet? It’s too loud. I think we chose violin not because it was necessarily the most practical instrument to adapt to one hand, but my dad loved it and played a bit when he was younger. And I just loved the sound. The adaptations came afterward.”

Musicians with physical disabilities, especially when they’re just starting out, learn that finding adaptive instruments can be prohibitively expensive, but Adrian believes that the music world can be more inclusive. Increasing representation of different abilities in music can help.

‘Sometimes, we need to look for precedent,” he says. “And that requires research, but it also requires people who are in this field with physical disabilities and are producing music, to really get out there and demonstrate that journey for others.”