Taft Arts News

Caitlin Morton '12 Take First Prize in Art Show

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Taft senior Caitlin Morton won first prize in the student category at the 32nd Annual Photography Exhibition sponsored by the New Canaan Society of Art. Photographs by Everett Brownstein and Will O'Meara were also among the approximately 50 entries juried into the show, culled from a pool of more than 300.

The show continues at the Carriage Barn Arts Center, New Canaan, CT through Sunday, February 19. The Carriage Barn is open six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday, from noon until 4 p.m. Entrance to the Gallery is free and all exhibitions are open to the public. Visit carriagebarn.org for more information.

Visual Arts Students Show in Potter Gallery

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Paintings, drawings, sculpture, photographs and ceramics will all be featured in the Mark W. Potter '48 Gallery beginning February 10. The pieces were created by Taft visual arts students during the current academic year.

A reception will be held on Friday, February 10, from 5 to 7 to celebrate the opening of the show. The reception is free and open to the public.

Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. when school is in session.

Renaissance Ensemble In Concert

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Taft's Music for a While performance series continues on Friday, January 27 with acclaimed period vocal ensemble Exsultemus. The concert begins at 7:00 p.m. in Woodward Chapel.

Declared “unquestionably in the top-tier of Renaissance vocal ensembles in the Northeast” by Boston Musical Intelligencer and hailed for its “stunningly unified ensemble sound,” Exsultemus was founded in 2003 to explore remarkable but seldom-performed Renaissance and Baroque vocal works. The Boston-based ensemble features extraordinary soloists and reflects the use of the most recent research into historically-informed performance. Exsultemus has performed more than three dozen original programs, from liturgical reconstructions of Renaissance Vespers services to Telemann’s St. John Passion of 1737. Taking its name from the Latin for “let us rejoice,” Exsultemus is modeled after small estate and chapel choirs with musicians performing one on a part and without conductor, working rather as a chamber ensemble than a traditional choir and offering audiences vibrant and engaging performances.

At Taft, Exsultemus will perform “Music for Voices and Brass from Italy and Germany.” The concert features the grand sonorities of cornetti, sackbuts, and organ mingled with the exquisite voices of Exsultemus. The ensemble will take listeners on journey of music for voices and brass from Italy over the mountains to Germany and Eastern Europe. Tickets are not required. For more information on the event, call the Taft School box office at 860-945-7898, or visit www.TaftSchool.org/arts/concertseries. For more information about the artists, visit www.exsultemus.

Ken Nigro Jazz Band Comes to Taft

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Music for a While Performance Series continues in Walker Hall Friday, January 13 at 7:00 p.m. with Ken Nigro’s Jazz Band. The concert is free and open to the public.

Ken Nigro is a YAMAHA Performing Artist and Clinician who recently joined Taft as an adjunct music teacher. He has taught saxophone, woodwinds, ensemble and improvisation at the college level for more than 30 years, and teaches music technology in the Waterbury Public Schools. Ken wrote the text The Complete Saxophone, and is a prolific composer and arranger.

Ken’s performance highlights include the White Nights Jazz Festival in Russia, the 53rd Presidential Inaugural with Aretha Franklin, Music Educators National Conference and the Newport Jazz Festival. He performs with symphonies and ensembles and backs artists such as the Temptations, Manhattan Transfer and Doc Severinson. Ken is also a featured soloist on the New Millennium Jazz Ensemble’s CD, which includes Harvie Swartz and Bill Mays.

The Ken Nigro Band is a nonet featuring music from Supersax, original compositions and unique arrangements of jazz styles from the '50s up through the present. The group plays selections ranging from jazz and blues numbers to Motown, popular and light jazz selections.

Everett Brownstein '12 in Potter Gallery

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Nepal's Helambu region is a culturally rich destination for adventurers and tourists. Its mountains are dotted with monasteries and remote caves that have attracted Buddhist lamas for centuries; its tiny villages reflect a simple life lived at a slower pace. Last summer, Everett Brownstein '12 worked as a teacher in a Helambu village school; his students are the subjects of some of his photos, and will be featured in the Mark W. Potter '48 Gallery from Friday, January 6 through Thursday, February 2.

The show features portraits and landscapes of the children, their school and the remote village where Brownstein lived. But there are also images of life in the larger, more urban Kathmandu Valley. Photographs of the simple and pristine landscape of Helambu are juxtaposed with images of the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu. From shots of an almost unnoticeable switch-backing trail leading to the school in the serene mountains, to the crowded streets filled with mopeds and cars, these photos capture life in Nepal through Brownstein’s incomparable eye.

Read the Artist's Statement.

76th Annual Lessons and Carols

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Come celebrate the Christmas season at Taft's 76th Annual Service of Lessons and Carols on December 13.

The public is cordially invited to attend.

To accommodate everyone, there will be two services this year: one at 6 p.m., followed by one at 8 p.m., both in Woodward Chapel (formerly Christ Church on the Green)

The Taft Chamber Ensemble and Collegium Musicum will perform for the service.

A reception follows the 8 p.m. service with refreshments and music by the Taft Jazz Band in the Choral Room, Charles Phelps Taft Hall.

Adele Myers and Dancers on Taft Stage

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

November will be a month to remember for dance enthusiasts, as acclaimed dancers take to the Taft stage and lead classes in our studio.

On Wednesday, November 16 renowned choreographer Adele Myers will teach a contemporary/modern dance class in our dance studio. Myers was a guest choreographer for our dance concert last year, and her company, Adele Myers and Dancers, performed on campus as part of a guest residency. The company will be on stage again Friday, November 18 (details below). The November 16 session begins at 1:30, and is open to all students interested in participating in the dance concert.

Priti Ghatlia will lead a master class in Bollywood and classical Indian dance in the Taft dance studio on Friday, November 18 beginning at 4 p.m. Ghatlia is this year’s guest choreographer for our dance concert, and will choreograph a Bollywood piece for the performance.

Adele Myers and Dancers take to the stage in Bingham Auditorium Friday, November 18 at 7:00 p.m. The performance is free, and open to the public. The show features two of the company’s popular pieces, “Theater in the Head,” and “This Dance is What You See.”

"Theater in the Head" is a quest for intimacy between performers and their audience. It offers spectacle then reveals its mechanics by stripping them away. Developed with composer, Josh Quillen of the So Percussion ensemble, the forty-five minute quintet incorporates Myers' robust athleticism fused with theatricality and humor. The concept for "Theater in the Head" originated during an Emerging Choreographer residency at the Bates Dance Festival and was further developed during a one-year creative residency at the Vermont Performance Lab (VPL).

"This Dance Is What You See" experiments with being in control of being out of control. The work was originally commissioned by the 2010 Dance New Amsterdam Theater’s New York Summer Dance Intensive. Variations of the dance have been commissioned by: Connecticut College Dance Department; Full Force Dance; Rhode Island College; and the Summer Stages Dance Festival.

In addition to being Artistic Director of Adele Myers and Dancers, Myers is a Professor of Dance at Connecticut College. Myers’ choreography has been presented nationally including Jacob’s Pillow Inside/Out; Bates Dance Festival; Tanglewood Music Center; Velocity Dance Center; New Haven International Festival of Arts and Ideas; Stonington Opera House; DanceNowNYC; Dance New Amsterdam and Joyce SoHo. As a performer, she was a member of Joy Kellman/Co. in NYC for six years and a guest artist with other companies including Momix. Myers was also a choreographic assistant on several projects for Jawole Zollar, Artistic Director of the Urban Bush Women (UBW). Commercial credits include choreographing a record release event for Aerosmith and industrials for TVGuide, among others. Myers earned a BA from Sarah Lawrence College, an MFA at Florida State University, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Performance Studies at New York University.

Airlie Anderson Show Opens Friday

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Celebrated children's book illustrator Airlie Anderson joins the Taft School community this week as a Rockwell Visiting Artist. Her work will be featured in the Mark W. Potter '48 Gallery from Friday, November 11 to Friday, December 9. Anderson will be feted during an opening receptionon Friday, November 11 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Airlie is well-known for her charming and whimsical children's book illustrations. Her preferred medium is gouache on paper. She has been published in the US, Europe, and Korea. Airlie graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Illustration. Currently with Bright Group International, Airlie has worked for HarperCollins Children's Books in New York, Orange Avenue Children's Publishing in San Francisco, and Studio Goodwin Sturges in Boston. Her clients include Child's Play International, Little, Brown & Co., Pinwheel Children's Publishing, Ltd. (in the UK), Tiger Tales, Orange Avenue Children's Publishing, Nathan (in France), and Inspire Publications.

As a Rockwell Visiting Artist, Anderson will be on campus to meet and work with art students. The Rockwell Visiting Artists Fund brings professional artists to campus as teachers, mentors and featured artists in the Mark W. Potter '48 Gallery. The gallery is open Monday through Saturday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information http://www.taftschool.org/pottergallery/. To see more of Ms. Anderson's work, visit: [ http://www.airlieanderson.com/ ]http://www.airlieanderson.com/

The Taft School is an independent boarding and day school for 588 boys and girls in grades nine through post graduate. Founded in 1890 by Horace Dutton Taft, younger brother of President William Howard Taft, the school moved to Watertown in 1893. More than a century later, its motto of service 'Not to be served but to serve' remains central to the school's mission today.

British Invasion at Taft

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Beatlemania will take over Taft School Monday, November 14. The fun begins at 8:30 p.m. in Bingham Auditorium.

Touring as "The Cast of Beatlemania" four talented performers recreate the sights and sounds of The Beatles so faithfully that audiences are quickly transported back to a time when the world was engulfed in the energy and excitement known as BEATLEMANIA!

The production follows the music of The Beatles as they evolved through their career. Three different costumes changes coincide with the changing music and times. "The Cast of Beatlemania" is the first, original and only complete representation of the musical force called The Beatles.

The "Cast" features former members who starred in the Broadway production and have performed in all fifty states and over twenty foreign countries, including Canada, England, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.

The Cast is:

CARLO CANTAMESSA: John Lennon

LENIE COLACINO: Paul McCartney

JIM FILGATE: George Harrison

JOHN DELGADO: Ringo Starr

MARK TEMPLETON: Orchestrations/Keyboards

Be Our Guest

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Beauty and the Beast comes to life on the Taft School stage for three evening performances October 27, 28 and 29. All shows begin at 8 p.m. in Bingham Auditorium.

A timeless fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast was first published in France in 1740. Since then, there have been dozens of print, stage and film adaptations of the classic tale. Taft theatre and film teacher Rick Doyle directs the current version, based on the stage adaptation of the Disney film.

“Everyone knows and loves the story of the beauty and the beast. If you look beneath the skin, the characters are rich and complex. The story of universal acceptance is one that resonates for everyone,” notes Doyle. “It is a great musical – certainly Disney’s best.”

Beauty and the Beast is the story of Belle, a beautiful and kind-hearted young girl living in a small French village with her inventor father. Prince Adam lives a in a lavish castle, cursed to beast form by an enchantress who saw no love in his heart. Belle dreams of finding a prince; Adam dreams of finding the true love that will release the curse. When Belle's father takes a wrong turn in the forest he unwittingly sets events in motion that will make both of their dreams come true.

“I thoroughly enjoy playing Belle,” said Jillian Wipfler '13. “Not only is she a princess, but she is a passionate and intelligent girl with a fire in her. Although it’s challenging, I’m working to create my own Belle, while keeping her the princess we all know and love.”

Jillian has been performing in regional and community theater throughout Connecticut since elementary school. At Taft, she has been featured in Peter Pan, Ragtime, and Lend Me a Tenor.

Jacob Goldstein '15 plays Prince Adam, the Beast. Jacob’s formal training includes Italian opera; he is currently in the Collegium at Taft.

“Preparing for Beauty and the Beast is a combination of hard work and great fun. I get to become this character who is completely different from myself and with it I take on all of his problems and all of his goals,” explained Jacob.

Musical Adapted from the Disney Film by LINDA WOOVERTON AND ALAN MENKEN

Lyrics by HOWARD ASHMAN AND TIM RICE

Music by ALAN MENKEN