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Paul Pitts
Director of Visual and Performing Arts
Boston Latin School
78 Ave. Louis Pasteur
Boston, MA 02115
617.635.8895
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Did You Hear?
Hairspray is coming!!!
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Boston Latin School Wins Big at Charles Mingus High School Jazz Festival
On the weekend of Sunday, February 17th, the top six high school big bands and six combos from across the United States of America gathered in New York for this year's nationwide Charles Mingus High School Competition and Festival at the Manhattan School of Music. These groups were selected to participate in the finals through taped auditions that they submitted in early December; finalists were notified in early January. Boston Latin School walked away with top honors for “Best Big Band” in the non-specified category (non-arts focused school) and Willens Jean-Jules won an “Outstanding Soloist” award for his stellar work on trumpet.
The adjudicators included Gunther Schuller, former president of New England Conservatory, Ken Pullig, former chair of the Composition Department of The Berklee College of Music, and Frank Lacy a trombonist and vocalist of the Mingus Big Band. The three judges considered rhythm, improvisation, interpretation, musicianship, and “Mingus Spirit” in their evaluations. The festival included a full day of workshops on Saturday, February 16th, including master classes for individual instruments and sections, lectures, films, and clinics that explored aspects of Mingus’ music, followed by a student “Mingus jam.”
The competition was only part of the excitement. Students saw the Mingus Big Band perform live on Saturday night at Jazz Standard, playing the same arrangements that the student bands would be performing at the competition. On Friday, February 15th, Boston Latin School attended a jazz clinic at Lincoln Center with Walter Blanding, a saxophonist from Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. To the students’ excitement, the clinic also included a surprise visit by Wynton Marsales who worked with the BLS Big Band! Finally, all the participating students and staff toured Times Square to listen and experience the rhythm of New York City.
Congratulations the to students and music staff for representing the Boston Public Schools!
More details are available at the festival website: http://letmychildrenhearmusic.org
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2012 Holiday Concerts 2012 MP3s and slideshows are up! Listen to Boston Latin School's music groups' performances here. View photos of Night I here and Night II here. To view a particular ensemble, click the triangle inside a square located in the lower left-hand corner to bring up the menu. You can also download a PDF copy of the concert program by clicking here (9.5MB). Thank you to all the businesses who advertised and the parents who signed up for shout-outs for their special artists. |
Congratulations to the fifteen Boston Latin School students who won Boston Globe Scholastic Art & Writing Awards! (The categories are Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mention.)
Gold Keys in Art to Aurelia Paquette, Cole Wennerholm, and Mabel Ye
Silver Keys in Art to Celin Carlo-Gonzalez, Cindy Lee, Nate McQueen, and Coby Werlin
Honorable Mentions in Art to Rosy Chen and Maggie Lee
Gold Keys in Art Portfolio to Sadia Bies and Coby Werlin
Gold Key in Writing to Dara Lin
Silver Key in Writing to Nathan Oalican
Honorable Mentions in Writing to Analucia Battaglino, Maya Greally, and Yinyu Ji
BLS Hosts Eastern District Music Festival January 2013,
BLS Students Earn Special Honors
The New Year brought an extra bustle of energy and excitement to the arts wing at Boston Latin School. On January 4 and 5, Boston Latin School hosted the Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) Eastern Senior District Music Festival. The Festival drew many of the most talented high school singers and musicians from the Boston area, including students from BLS, BAA, Cambridge Rindge & Latin, and students from suburban school districts such as Brookline, Newton, and Lincoln-Sudbury. Together, they formed this year’s Eastern District Chorus, Concert Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra.
Students auditioned to perform, and BLS was well represented. This year, 69 students from BLS were selected to audition and 28 were chosen to participate in the Festival. Additional honors were conferred on 13 BLS students who were recommended to audition for the prestigious All State Festival in March at Symphony Hall. Of those, 7 made it through. Special kudos go to BLS students Willen Jean-Jules and Harry Xue who were chosen as Trumpet 1 and Alto Saxophone 1, respectively. This is the highest musical honor a Massachusetts high school student can achieve. Congratulations are in order to them and to all the BLS students who participated—and to their families.
The BLS Visual and Performing Arts Department and the BLS Friends of the Arts (FOA) have been proud to host the Festival for the last five years. FOA volunteers and BLS staff provided hospitality and logistical support to guest conductors, staff, and student participants. The festivals typically start with a day of intensive rehearsals followed by a public concert the next day.
For students at BLS who are interested in the Festival, preparation often starts months in advance. The BLS music faculty provides information to students on the audition process, and audition music is distributed early to interested students. District auditions for students in Grades 10 – 12 are held on a Saturday in early November. Students play or sing the audition piece, sight-read music, and play required scales. For more information on the MMEA Eastern District Festival auditions, Junior or Senior level, please contact FOA Co-Chair Kristin Johnson at krisjohn@earthlink.net.
Slides are up from BLS Theatre Company's 2012 Fall One-Acts, The Devil and Daniel Webster and Sorry, Wrong Number! Click here to view. To view a specific play, click the triangle inside a square located in the lower left-hand corner to bring up the menu. To download any of the photos (by Gayle Lang) click here.
Check out these photos of the BLS show choir Pizzazz performing at the 28th Annual Baystate Show Choir Festival! Click on the thumbnails to view larger.
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Congratulations, Mr. Pitts! The Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) Executive Board elected Boston Latin School's Paul J. Pitts as the 2012 recipient of the Paul Smith Hall of Fame Award. His selection has placed him among other so-honored recipients including Walter Chesnut, George Parks, Frank Battisti, and Paul Alberta, to name a few. |
Your Support Makes Art Happen
Become a member of the Friends of the Arts today.
Did you know that over half of students at BLS participate in arts programs? That means over 1,000 students are involved in music, drama and visual art at BLS. The Friends of the Arts is a parent-led group that works closely with the faculty in the Arts Department to support these programs for our kids. You can help by becoming a member or joining us at our next meeting Wednesday, March 6, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM in the 2nd floor BLS Arts Wing.
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