BLS Arts

News Archive

BLS Theatre Company presents two nights of one-act comedies

Come see some of BLS Theatre Company's rising stars in this year's one-act comedies. Aurelia Paquette, II; Anna Baronas, II; and Martha Roberston, II, are directing I'm A Teenager Get Me Out of This Family by Jim Garvey and Things Fall (Meanwhile) by Barton Bishop. The performances are November 18 at 3:00 pm and November 19 at 2:00 pm and 5:00 pm.

2010-11 News Items

MICCA Festival

Congratulations to the Concert Strings and Concert Choir for receiving Gold Medals at the MICCA Festival and to the Junior and Senior bands for receiving Bronze Medals.

Many Successes This Jazz Competition Season!

The BLS Big Band received a gold medal at the Norwood Jazz Classic on February 17. They received their second Gold Medal of the season at the MAJE Cape Cod District Festival on March 2. Outstanding Musician awards went to Warren Thompson, Mike Raleigh and Dan Moreno. Warren Thompson also received the MVP for Division I. The Big Band won a third gold medal at the State Jazz Finals held at Framingham High School on March 19th. Awards for outstanding musicianship went to Parker Wilson and Warren Thompson. The Berklee High School Jazz Festival went well (despite a fire alarm going off in the middle of the performance!): the band was recognized for fifteen years of participation and Willens Jean-Jules received the Outstanding Player award for the band.

Congratulations to the BLS Big Band

for their gold medal at the State Jazz Finals! In addition, awards for outstanding musicianship went to Parker Wilson and Warren Thompson. The band will perform at the Hatch Shell Gold Medal Showcase on Sunday, May 15th at 12:45 pm.

BLS Theatre Company Presents The Realm

Each year BLS Theatre Company competes in the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild High School Festival. This year BLS has brought The Realm by Sarah Myers to the Guild Festival. The Realm revolves around a young girl, Kansas, in a dark future where the human race has moved underground with limited resources. Here the air steals away language tied with desire and replaces it with its own version of language. Come see the struggle between Kansas and the forces of The Realm at 3:30 pm on Friday, March 18 at BLS or at 3:00 pm on Saturday, March 19 at Weston High School as part of the Semi-Finals of the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild High School Festival.

Jazz Competitions– Support the BLS Big Band!

The BLS big-band started off the season with a great showing at the Norwood Jazz Classic, winning their first gold medal of the season. Here are some more opportunities to hear the jazz band perfom coming up:

Cape Cod Coastal Jazz Festival – Wednesday, March 2, Falmouth MA – Details to follow. This event includes high schools in the eastern part of Massachusetts and determines eligibility to compete at the State Jazz Competition (March 19th in Framingham).

Berklee High School Jazz Festival – Saturday, March 5, Hynes Convention Center, Boston – The 43rd annual festival is the largest of its kind in the U.S. and features high school ensembles from all around the country. Big bands, combos and vocal jazz ensembles perform and compete throughout the day. This is a wonderful event for all ages, especially younger students interested in jazz. Last year BLS took home a bronze medal and an outstanding musicianship award for Matt Pitts. The BLS Big Band – will be performing at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, March 5th. And it's free all day!

2009-10 news items

Two BLS entries are 2010 Fidelity FutureStage winners

APRIL 25—For the second consecutive year, Boston Latin School will be represented by two winners of the Boston Fidelity FutureStage music competition: Muhan Zhang and Copley Place (Annie Osborn and Sherry Wu, fiddle; Ian Haines, banjo; Chris Nguyen, cello). The 2010 winners will perform at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops on May 26. Chris Nguyen will be making a return appearance--he was also a winner in 2009 as a member of the Grieg Quartet.

Fidelity FutureStage was created in 2006 by Fidelity Investments to support arts education in local communities. For more information on the contest, visit futurestage.com.

Big Band hits gold on the Cape, bronze at Berklee

MARCH 13—Congratulations to the Big Band for winning a gold medal at the Cape Cod District Jazz Festival in Falmouth. This marks the tenth year in a row that the Big Band has qualified for the state finals, to be held on March 27. Outstanding musician awards went to Elizabeth Vandorpe on clarinet, Matt Hull on trumpet, and Joe Hartigan on drums. The MVP award for Division One went to Matt Pitts for the second consecutive year. The Big Band also placed third in its division at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival for the second consecutive year, with Matt Pitts winning one of three Outstanding Musician awards for Division L1.

Fortress advances to Guild semifinals

FEBRUARY 27—Congratulations to the cast and crew of Fortress, which has been chosen to advance to the semifinals of the Massachusetts High School Drama Guild Festival, with many of our actors and tech personnel winning awards of distinction. Come see our encore performance on Friday, March 12 at 3:30pm in the Black Box Theatre. See Mr. Gels in the Black Box for more information.

BLS artists are Globe winners

FEBRUARY 14—Congratulations to the five Boston Latin School students who were chosen from more than 6,000 entries to win Boston Globe Scholastic Art awards, announced in the Globe and on boston.com on Feb. 14. The BLS winners: Justice Tocker, Gold Key for art portfolio; Angela Estevez, honorable mention for art; Mariah Harrington, honorable mention for art, Kwonateisha Hills, honorable mention for art; and Rose Phan, honorable mention for art. (The Globe awards Gold Keys, Silver Keys and Honorable Mentions.)

BLS Sends Seven Musicians to All-State Festival

JANUARY 25—Seven Boston Latin School musicians have been selected to participate in the 2010 Massachusetts Music Educators Association (MMEA) All-State Festival and Conference, to be held March 18-20 at the Seaport Hotel/World Trade Center. The festival will conclude on Saturday, March 20 with a concert at Symphony Hall.

The BLS All-State participants are:

Matt Hull, trumpet, jazz band
B Kim, violin I, orchestra
Chris Middleton, tenor, chorus
Mathilde Montpetit, violin I, orchestra
Anne Osborn, violin I, orchestra
Warren Thompson, flute, band
Alex Yuan, cello, orchestra

Congratulations to the above participants and to all the outstanding BLS musicians who were invited to audition.

BLS Student Featured on "From the Top"

JANUARY 25—Come and cheer BLS 8th grader, pianist, and orchestra member Phuong Nghi Pham, who will playing on From the Top, NPR's showcase of the best young classical musicians in the country! Phuong Nghi will play Mendelssohn's Andante & Rondo Capriccioso, Op. 14 for piano at Jordan Hall Feb. 6 at 7:30pm. This episode will air nationally the week of March 29 and can be heard on 99.5 FM Saturday, April 3 at 11am and Sunday, April 4 at 5pm. From the Top can also be heard online at www.fromthetop.org

Live Taping of NPR's From the Top
WHEN: Saturday, February 6 at 7:30 pm
WHERE: New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall 30 Gainsborough Street, Boston
MBTA: Green Line to Symphony or Orange Line to Mass. Ave
Tickets are $25 adults/$20 students and seniors
Boston Latin School Special Rate $5 http://store.fromthetop.org/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=GROUPTIXSTUD

To find out more about From the Top, visit www.fromthetop.org.

Fidelity Futurestage Music Competition 2010

JANUARY 22—Last year five BLS musicians won the gig of a lifetime, playing at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops as winners of the Fidelity Futurestage music competition, an arts education program sponsored by Fidelity Investments. The announcement for this year's competition is below.

FIDELITY FUTURESTAGE MUSIC COMPETITION 2010

Imagine performing on stage at a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall. Through Fidelity FutureStage, an arts education program created by Fidelity Investments, it could happen! Boston and Cambridge public high school musicians/vocalists can compete for a chance to perform on stage at a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall on May 26, 2010.

The Boston Pops and Fidelity FutureStage are working with First Night to find talented high school musicians and vocalists to take part in the second annual Fidelity FutureStage Music Competition 2010. Up to four instrumental and/or vocal acts will be selected to perform live on stage with the Boston Pops and conductor Keith Lockhart.

Competition Opens: Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Application Deadline: Friday, March 26, 2010

Grand Prize

An opportunity to perform on stage before a live audience at a Boston Pops concert at Symphony Hall
Rehearsals with professional musicians and coaches
Recognition in the concert program
A certificate of performance signed by Keith Lockhart, conductor of the Boston Pops
Professional photos of rehearsal and performance on stage at the concert
$100 American Express Gift Cheque for each winning student

Eligibility

The competition is open to full-time students in grades 9 to 12, ages 13 to 19, attending any public high school in Boston or Cambridge, Massachusetts. Performers must be instrumental musicians and/or vocalists performing as soloists or in ensembles comprised of no more than five student musicians. Previous participants and winners are only eligible to enter with new audition and concert performance material.

See the 2009 winners.

How to enter

Complete rules and application details will be available on www.futurestage.com/ on February 10. For more information about the competition, contact:

First Night Boston
Tom Formicola, Competition Manager
36 Bromfield Street, Suite 204
Boston, MA 02108
617.542.1399
tformicola@firstnight.org

The Big Band Goes to the Big Apple

JANUARY 18—The BLS Big Band has been named one of 12 finalists in the Charles Mingus High School Competition and Festival to be held February 13-15 at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. Read on to see all the details from the official press release.

Charles Mingus High School Competition & Festival - Feb 13-15
Mingus Gospel Concert St. Bartholomew's Church, Park Ave - Sat Feb 13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 4, 2010 - New York, NY

Let My Children Hear Music/The Charles Mingus Institute announces finalists (see below) and an exciting lineup for the Charles Mingus High School Competition and weekend festival. This year's nationwide Competition will include not only the events held at Manhattan School of Music, but also an extraordinary public concert of Mingus gospel music at the landmark St. Bartholomew's (St. Bart's) Church on Park Avenue and 50th Street.

Saturday begins with a full day of clinics and workshops at the Manhattan School of Music, including master classes for instruments and sections, lectures and clinics that explore aspects of Mingus music such as Thematic Development in Improvisation, Deconstructing Melody, and The Blues at the Heart of Mingus. A special Band Director's Workshop will be directed by Justin DiCioccio, followed by a student Mingus jam. Prominent educators and musicians will listen to tapes, adjudicate performances, and oversee these events including Gunther Schuller, Justin DiCioccio, Robin Eubanks, Conrad Herwig, James Newton, Christian McBride, Donny McCaslin, Andrew Homzy, Boris Kozlov and more.

The Saturday evening concert by the Mingus Orchestra at St. Bart's is a unique event that not only returns Mingus music to its blues & gospel roots, but features the sort of instrumentation--harp, bassoon, French horn, and bass clarinet--that illustrates Mingus's long-time mission to expand the instrumental possibilities in jazz. The concert will include such rousing numbers as "Better Get Hit In Your Soul," "Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting," "Ecclusiastics," "Consider Me, Oh Lord" (from a Langston Hughes collaboration), and a special trio performance of "Noddin Ya' Head Blues." The Mingus Orchestra features special guest, Edmar Castaneda on harp and Vincent Herring, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Wayne Escoffery, Kenny Rampton, Boris Kozlov, Donald Edwards, Jack Wilkins, Michael Rabinowitz, Doug Yates, and John Clark.

On Sunday the daylong Mingus High School Competition will feature the top 12 big bands and combos from around the country followed by a concert by the MSM Mingus Combo and the Mingus Dynasty. Monday the Mingus Dynasty will also perform at Jazz Standard as part of its regular weekly residency.

Boston Latin School Awarded 2009 MCC Grant for $5070

The Friends of the Arts at Boston Latin School are proud to announce that the BLS music department is a 2009 recipient of a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant of $5,070. The money was awarded for the second year of a Residency Grant Proposal, “Strings of Change,” for Boston Latin School Master Class instruction on string instruments. In collaboration with the New England String Ensemble artists and Young Audiences, master classes will be offered to students on violin, viola, cello and string bass. The program will culminate in a free concert open to the community.