Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
Natick, MA Permit #23
Behind Stowe WALNUT HILL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
Spring & Summer 2012
Volume 2 Number 1
Oh, the Places We’ve Been! Engaging with alumni, families, and partners worldwide Walnut Hill has always had a rich tradition in the arts, as evidenced by this representative sample of covers of The Blue Pencil from 1937, 1962, and 2012. Another tradition that has stood the test of time! TH
EB
LUE
TH E AT MAg wA A LN zINE UT HIL of TH Ls CH E CrE oo L f ATIvE or TH wrIT E A INg rT s Pr o
PEN
CIL
| 20 gr
12
AM
www.youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool www .youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool | www.facebook.com/walnuthill www.facebook.com/walnuthill | www.walnuthillarts.or www.walnuthillarts.org | 508.653.4312
30016cvr.indd 1
6/5/12 12:52 PM
Behind Stowe WALNUT HILL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
Spring & Summer 2012
It’s the little things
Volume 2 Number 1
Each gift makes a difference at Walnut Hill Support the Walnut Hill Annual Fund. Give online at giving.walnuthillarts.org or return the enclosed envelope.
on tHe Cover Yuyuan Market, Shanghai, China (Photo by Head of School Antonio Viva)
4 Marketing CoMMuniCations oFFiCe Michele Levy Chief Marketing Officer Betsy Blazar Molly Clark Marketing Communications Managers DeveLopMent oFFiCe Bruce smith Chief Development Officer Jennifer tumsuden Director of Annual Giving Jillian kohl Director of Alumni Relations paul Fleming Database Manager eDitoriaL teaM Judy kiviat Editorial Assistant Betsy Blazar DeFrancis Carbone Design
feAture
continued from page 43
Oh, the Places We’ve Been!
nant just after I was fired, er, replaced. I couldn’t have done that series anyway. Plus they fired the next two actresses. It wasn’t me, or the other actresses. It was the material—it was awful. Meryl Streep couldn’t have made that mess work. You’ll be rejected, disappointed, crushed, bruised, blamed, and most likely, blown out of the water. And that is Life working its magic on you. That’s life showing you what you’re made of. Being an artist isn’t for the faint of heart: otherwise everybody would do it. Your attitude is everything. It can support you or destroy you. So be kind to yourself. Think well of yourself. Be bold and go for it. It’s trial and error. It’s slapping the paint onto the canvas or the words onto the page and making bad art. Sometimes you have to be fearless enough to make bad art before you can make good art. Likewise sometimes you have to find out who you aren’t in order to find out who you are. You have been given the extraordinary gift of an arts education, an education millions upon millions of peo-
1
12
30
A nOte frOm stOWe
APPlAuse
PersPectIVe
8
17
In tHeIr OWn WOrDs
AlumnI JOurneYs
Q&A with Walnut Hill’s Director of College Counseling
20
38
Madi Vest ’13 and Daniel Salas ’12 Describe Transformative Experiences off the Hill
10 2012 strAtegIc PlAn
11 InterVIeW
A Conversation with Trustee Emeritus Wendy Wheeler
AlumnI WeeKenD
seen On tHe HIll
A YeAr In reVIeW
Visiting Artists and Master Classes
A Look Back at a Year of Making Art
40
22
26
A PAssIOn fOr gIVIng
clAss nOtes
© 2012 Walnut Hill School for the Arts. All rights reserved. Published by Walnut Hill School for the Arts, 12 Highland Street, Natick, MA 01760-2199 (tel) 508.653.4312 (fax) 508.653.9593 | Please send change of address to Paul Fleming: pfleming@walnuthillarts.org
www.youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool | www.facebook.com/walnuthill | www.walnuthillarts.org | 508.653.4312
30016cvr.indd 2
Spring & Summer 2012
ple on this planet can only dream of. Your education is the foundation from which your work will grow. Keep learning and stay curious! There are legions ahead of you who couldn’t make a go of it because they weren’t willing to be disciplined, determined, and relentlessly persistent. There’s a place for you out there, whether you become a poet, painter, or singer. Even if you don’t have a clue what you want to be when you grow up. Inside of you lives your purpose, your talent, your gifts. The world needs your gifts and don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Many believe art and creativity originate in the mind, but I believe they are birthed from the heart, the well from which your creativity is drawn. You are the vessel for its expression. Live and create from your heart. And in those moments when it feels like your dreams are unattainable, remember this: If the mountain was smooth, you couldn’t climb it. Good luck out there.
Behind Stowe | 4 5
6/5/12 12:52 PM
Photo by Sharyn Peavey ’90
Securing Our Place in the World The end of the school year brings a flurry of activity, a great deal of transition, and a sense of closure as we send another class of Walnuts out into the world. The end of the year also offers a brief respite from our busy academic and performance schedule, and an opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments of the year. Perhaps one of the most significant accomplishments of the 2011–2012 school year was the completion of our Strategic Plan, entitled “Securing Our Place in the World,” that will guide the School’s actions for the next three to five years. Since May 2011, diverse teams of Trustees, faculty, and staff have been meeting to discuss our hopes and dreams for the School. Those hopes and dreams were consolidated into six high-level goals that the Trustees approved at the February 2012 board meeting. (For more information on the plan, please turn to page 10.) There is no question that Walnut Hill has changed over the past 35 years. In fact, our school has completed four major long-range plans since 1985. Those plans included large, ambitious goals such as becoming an arts school and bringing boys into the student body, and major construction projects such as the Keiter Center for the Performing Arts and Bishop Hall. As I worked with the various strategic planning committees this past year, it became clear to me that in the 35 years since we embarked on this process of becoming one of the world’s leading arts high schools, the passion and commitment of a large group of thoughtful and talented individuals have provided Walnut Hill with a firm foundation. And like many 35-yearolds, now that we are fully in our adulthood, we realize that our greatest opportunity is to leave our mark on the future. As I am fond of saying, we are educating students for a future that we cannot even imagine today. The rapid rate of change in the world, and the prospect of an uncertain future, will require us to be agile and creative in how we interpret and utilize our Strategic Plan. Just like that first plan written many years ago, the current plan remains solidly rooted in our mission to educate talented, accomplished, and intellectually engaged young artists from all over the world, and to do so in a diverse, humane, and ethical community. I look forward to continuing that work together.
Antonio Viva Head of School
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 1
Behind Stowe | 1
6/7/12 11:03 AM
Behind Stowe online is your Source for everything Alumni! Visit the website to: • Read up-to-date class notes and submit your own • Get the latest in alumni achievements from our “In the News” section • Find out about upcoming alumni events in your area • Learn what’s happening now on the Hill • Find out how you can support the School
we are pleased to announce that has been redesigned. Behind Stowe online now offers more videos, and ways to connect to your fellow walnuts. 2 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 2
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:03 AM
Can’t Get enough of the Happenings on the Hill? Check out these other redesigned sites A View from the Hill view.walnuthillarts.org videos of the sights, people, and sounds of Walnut Hill
Calendar of events events.walnuthillarts.org a full listing of all upcoming performances
The Blue Pencil online thebluepencil.net a collection of the best high school writing from all over the world, edited by our creative writing majors Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 3
Behind Stowe | 3
6/7/12 11:03 AM
Oh, the Places We’ve Been! Faculty, staff, and students engage with alumni, families, and partners worldwide. by Antonio Viva With close to 120 years of history, Walnut Hill has readily managed to cover the globe with a rich network of alumni, families, and friends. One of the many tasks a new Head of School faces is becoming familiar with the members of that network—those who helped to shape that history and those who are engaged in shaping the School’s future. That task is particularly important for this Head, at this point in the evolution of the School. Under strong and visionary leadership, Walnut Hill has successfully executed four major long-range plans since 1985, and we have recently completed a fifth. A central theme of that fifth Strategic Plan is the need for us to “take it off the Hill,” to become more global in our perspective, outreach, and impact. While we all cherish the environment we’ve created in Natick, we know that there are many benefits to venturing into the broader world. Getting off the Hill allows our students to develop a global perspective and enjoy more performance opportunities, builds visibility for the School,
Photo by Antonio Viva
4 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 4
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:03 AM
enables us to gather feedback from alumni and families, and helps us build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with other educational and artistic organizations worldwide. Over the past 12 months, we have invested a great deal of time and energy in doing all of that, and more. From New York to Los Angeles, from San Francisco to Seoul, we connected with a wide range of Walnut Hill alumni, families, partners, and friends. In these pages, and in the Class Notes section, you can read not only about where we ventured and who we met, but about what we learned and how we are using that knowledge as we implement the Strategic Plan.
We have much to share and much to learn from artists and teachers from around the world. One memorable evening included a visit with colleagues of Visual Art Director Jim Woodside. Jim and I were invited by artists and faculty of CAFA, Sun Xun Heyu and Cheng Kemei, for a dinner of Mongolian hot pot. After several hours of fine eating and a few laughs about American sitcoms, we were welcomed back to the artists’ studios for a chance to drink tea, discuss art, and take in an impromptu Chinese ink drawing lesson. That evening, I was reminded that in order for Walnut Hill to secure our place in the world, we must provide opportunities for faculty and students to learn from and share with artists and teachers from across the planet. Each brings a unique and vibrant story that can only deepen the teaching and learning on the Hill.
This year, we made two major trips to Asia, both of them extraordinarily productive and informative. We started with a journey to Beijing, where much of our time was occupied by meetings with potential partners. We visited the Fine Arts School affiliated with the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), where Jim Woodside taught a master class; met with representatives of Beijing Dance Academy; and chatted with educational consultants. The level of talent we saw was truly impressive, and the desire to engage with Walnut Hill deep and sincere. Art is, in many ways, a common denominator. It provides a basis for shared understanding and appreciation, ultimately creating a sense of hope and mutual respect. As we journeyed through Seoul, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Beijing, it became evident that Walnut Hill alumni are making an impact on the worlds of art, design, music, theater, and dance. As representatives of Walnut Hill, we were greeted with warm smiles and open hearts. I was deeply moved by the level of respect and appreciation for our school, our faculty, and our mission. As we engaged (at times through a translator) with a wide variety of individuals, our conversations were conducted over many cups of tea, boisterous and lively meals featuring regional and local delicacies, and much laughter. For me, personally, this experience was fulfilling on many levels, and it helped to shape my sense of our place in the world of art as well as in the world of education.
OPPOSITE PAGE Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, Taipei, Taiwan RIGHT Top: Annie Chang ’94, sister Naya ’99, and Alice Chang P’94,’97,’99 at an alumni parent dinner in Taipei; Bottom: Taipei alumni and current family dinner organized by Meir Chen P’08 (front row, 4th from right) on behalf of Walnut Hill.
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 5
Behind Stowe | 5
6/7/12 11:03 AM
This year, perhaps more than ever, we have made great strides in understanding the role
of technology in creating a broader community and maintaining strong, productive relationships with the members of that community. One of our most exciting initiatives in this area has been the efforts we’ve made to provide access to on-campus performances, classes, rehearsals, and presentations via livestream. All streamed events are also archived on our channel. If you have not yet tuned in, we encourage you to check it out at www.livestream.com/walnuthillarts.
During our spring trip to Asia, we connected with families and alumni over truly wonderful dinners and inspiring celebrations of the arts. Our visit to Taipei included a parent and alumni dinner. Through the generous efforts of Meir Chen P’08, who organized the event, we celebrated Walnut Hill with close to 45 attendees from across the island. It was a time to share ideas, answer questions, and assist in the creation of a Walnut Hill Taiwan Alumni Association. While there, we also had the opportunity to attend the performance of one of our alumni, pianist Grace Chung ’93, at the Taipei National Concert Hall. Grace performed beautifully, and my only regret is that our faculty and students were not there to enjoy it as well. Planning and preparation for this second trip to Asia also made us aware of a fascinating statistic. Walnut Hill has 200 alumni in South Korea, making Seoul one of our largest gathering places for Walnuts outside of Massachusetts. For those of you who have never been to Seoul, it is a tightly congested, bustling city blanketed with small side streets, contemporary office towers, and an insanely large amount of traffic. On this, my second visit to Seoul, I felt a welcomed sense of return. It also became clear that the energy of this modern Asian city has played an important part in our arts lineage. We were particularly thrilled to see the image of our very own alumna and Board member Hae Sun Paik ’83 on several large posters announcing her widely publicized concert (which unfortunately for us took place a few weeks after our departure!).
LEFT TO RIGHT Abandoned bikes at Shanghai University; alums visiting with Jim Woodside at the Walnut Hill School Festival in Seoul: Soo Bin Min ’11, Younju Chung ’11, Ah-Rim Kang ’98, Yul Hee Kim ’97, Mr. Woodside, Mi Ru Shim ’10, and Glenn Kim ’10 OPPOSITE PAGE Top: Festival poster from Seoul event; Bottom: Mr. Viva visiting a classroom at the CAFA School in Beijing Photos by Antonio Viva
Stay tuned . . . We hope to visit the following locations in 2012–2013: New York City, Florida, Chicago, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seoul, and many more! 6 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 6
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:03 AM
While in Seoul, we enjoyed the first-ever Walnut Hill School Seoul Festival, hosted by the Korean Parents’ Association. The evening showcased both our visual art under the guidance and support of Jim Woodside and a concert featuring performances of our music majors under the guidance and support of Evan Bennett. We are indebted to Mrs. Sun Hee Kim and the families of the Korean Parents’ Association for their hospitality and hard work. Moreover, we were fortunate enough to bring students with us on this trip, allowing some of our music students a view into the culture and experiences of their Korean classmates. Our students were not the only ones to learn a lot by getting off the Hill this year. Every single member of the administration and faculty who participated in these trips came back to Natick with fresh perspective and new ideas . . . very much primed to begin to implement the Strategic Plan. For instance, all of the celebratory dinners in Asia reminded us of the importance of food in building community, inspiring us to make some significant changes in our dining services as a means to improve the student experience while fostering understanding and connections. Bringing students off campus proved to be rewarding and educational for them, as well as inspiring to the families, alumni, and partners who connected with them.
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 7
For over 35 years, Walnut Hill has pursued its mission to fill the world with artists. Our work has created a rich and diverse alumni body whose work spans the gamut of industries, and whose creativity, generosity, and spirit of acceptance have great impact, not only on those industries, but on the world as a whole. Finally, and perhaps most important, our travel this year has validated the very premise of the new Strategic Plan: there is a role for us as a leader in the broader world, and we are well-positioned to further define and assume that role. Walnut Hill is ready to “secure our place in the world,” and to continue to have tremendous impact on a global community that needs us now more than ever. ♦
SEE MORE ONLINE
➡
Please visit vivatravels.walnuthillarts.org to view more images of Mr. Viva’s travels this past year.
Behind Stowe | 7
6/7/12 11:03 AM
A Home Away from Home By madi Vest ’13 s Spring Break drew near, the sentiments of excitement and relief for a much-needed school vacation pulsed through the air. While many students were solidifying their plans to bask in the sun on the beaches of California, or to spend countless hours sleeping in their own beds back home, I was mentally preparing myself for a 12-hour flight and furiously rehearsing new music to be performed onstage at the Yong San Arts Center in Korea. In a matter of minutes, I had gone from planning a tropical getaway to planning my first trip to Asia. My initial reaction to this proposal was one of sheer excitement accompanied by underlying feelings of anxiety and fear. I started to have serious doubts about my ability to sit in an airplane for an extended amount of time and wondered if I would be able to survive with any style or dignity due to jet lag and possible starvation due to unusual food selection. All of my fears were immediately put to rest after meeting with Cathy Yun, Director of ESL and the International Community Program. She assured me that although it would truly be a culture shock, I wasn’t going to be left to my own devices and that
I would find it easy to fit in. This news was hugely reassuring, as my Korean isn’t what it should be.
{
Korea changed me, and I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who made it possible.
{
A
In a frenzy the final preparations were made, and I left Boston in the early hours of the morning with my neck pillow in hand and violin on my shoulder. From the moment I stepped off the plane in Korea, it was clear that I was about to embark on one of the most amazing experiences of my life. With my first breath of fresh air, I was met by the most engaging welcoming party. They made it clear that every little detail had been thoroughly thought through. Eun Young Jeong, my new Korean mother, had meticulously selected which Korean barbecue restaurant we would visit first, in which tea house we would enjoy local treats, and which beautiful high-end salon would groom us on the day of the concert. I was treated like gold as they paraded me around like a special show-and-tell, as the Korean mothers would sweetly smile and exclaim, “This is our American for the week.” With that, they would give a cute little giggle as I clumsily continued to attempt eating with my metal chopsticks, which proved to be a certain demon for me that I never quite conquered. The Korean families readily opened their homes to me. They spared no expense as they anticipated my every need and treated me as if I was truly a part of their family. While the new sights and the unusual food experiences all proved to be enormously impactful, the one thing that touched me the most was the
8 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 8
relationship I developed with my beautiful Korean host family. A week full of sightseeing, exotic dining, and theme park visiting culminated with the huge success of the first Walnut Hill School Seoul Festival. Consistent with the grace and style in which the Korean people live, the concert unfolded flawlessly. In the end, even though I was unable to understand the words that bubbled out of the mouths around me, there was an undeniable feeling of deep respect and common love for the one thing that brought our two worlds together, this language of music that we could speak, understand, and truly appreciate as one.
As I later discussed my trip with peers, one made a very insightful point that I couldn’t fully appreciate until now. He said, “Asia truly changes you, the way you think, feel, and adjust to change.” His words are full of truth, as I have returned home from this trip with a perspective into a completely different culture, and an appreciation toward my international classmates who undertake this same monstrous journey here in the States. It’s an experience that will undoubtedly remain with me throughout my life as I grow and continue to expand my horizons. Korea changed me, and I’m so incredibly grateful to everyone who made it possible. www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:03 AM
welcome to the family By Daniel Salas ’12 surprise that after settling in to our hotel I was eager to show the dancers around Los Angeles. The following day we headed out to Venice Beach and enjoyed getting some much-needed sun.
I
n the fall of 2011, Director of Ballet Michael Owen approached five ballet majors, all from the Class of 2012, and offered them a unique opportunity not one will soon forget. He proposed to fly each across the United States to spend time working with Kate Hutter ’00, and members of her professional dance institution, L.A. Contemporary Dance Company (LACDC). The Walnut Hill dancers included Melanie Benker, Nami Miwa, Cacia LaCount, Emily Orillac, and myself. While in Los Angeles, we would present a master class (given by Kate) and perform solos that we had each been rehearsing for nearly four months as part of our college audition process. Additionally, we would get a “sneak peek” of a commissioned repertory from LACDC that will premiere at the University of Southern California later this year, all in the presence of alumni, parents, school administrators, and other patrons of Walnut Hill. On January 9, the dancers and our chaperone, College Counselor Sarah Lovely, departed from Boston’s Logan International Airport. As a California native who takes pride in his home state, it came as no Photos by Daniel Nielsen ’13, Reena Baami, Liza Voll
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 9
However, the time soon came to exit our vacation mode and prepare to dance. We headed to the Brockus Project Space, where the event was being held. We were all a bit nervous, but as soon as we entered the space any nerves we had were diminished by Kate Hutter’s welcoming smile. Head of School Antonio Viva, Michael Owen, Chief Development Officer Bruce Smith, Director of Alumni Relations Jillian Kohl, and all of the attendees then congregated in the largest studio to witness one of the most invigorating contemporary dance classes I have ever taken. We began by forming a circle, dispersing ourselves between Kate and the LACDC dancers, and from there doing an enlivening full-body warm-up of ballet, improvisation, and yogic content. When the time came to learn some of Kate’s choreography, we all felt free to just dance as ourselves. From floor work to arabesques, handstands to sautées, we moved throughout the space with a continual exploration. Through the entire master class, it felt as though there was no audience at the front of the room, proving the validity of the remarkably healthy learning environment that Kate and her dancers provide. Following a brief reception, the formal presentation began. The five Class of 2012 solos would be performed, with a piece of the LACDC repertory between each. I performed a solo choreographed by Nathan Makolandra, a senior at the Juilliard School. Leading up to the performance, I had been hesitant in
letting myself go in the choreography and losing myself in the music. I don’t know if it was the fact that I was dancing alongside friends with an incredible group of people unafraid to take risks, or that months of practice had simply paid off, but when I danced I could breathe. I was grateful. Perhaps the most gratifying part of the trip was having the chance to connect with alumni there. Even though some may have graduated three decades ago, we realized that they were all exactly like us once. They too dealt with the same stress and joy that we experience now. We met alumni who are directors, talent agents for rock legends, and even organic farmers. They shared stories of what Walnut Hill was like for them and the many ways it made them who they are today. There were many, many laughs! One alumnus asserted that “now is the time to play. If you are worried about the results, you are not living in the moment. It is not about getting in, it is about expressing yourself. Let go.” They also spoke of more simple things. Another alumnus stated, “I met my best friend at Walnut Hill when I was 15. I’m 41 years old and we are still best friends. Walnut Hill is forever. We will always have each other no matter what. Welcome to the family.”
READ MORE ONLINE
➡
Please visit salas.walnuthillarts.org to read more about Daniel Salas’s experience in Los Angeles.
Behind Stowe | 9
6/7/12 11:03 AM
O
ver 25 years ago, a group of dedicated faculty, staff, and Board members came together to create the first Strategic Plan for Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Since then, much has changed on the Hill, and in the world. Throughout all of that change, however, a few things have remained constant. First, and most important, the mission of the School is more relevant today than ever. In addition, the dedication of the School community to that mission continues to be steadfast, even as we explore new ways to deliver on that mission. This 2012 plan represents the creativity, passion, and hard work of an equally dedicated team, a team clearly focused on securing our place in the world, and on taking an active role in tackling the complex questions of our time. Over the past 25 years, Walnuts have shown themselves to be thoughtful, engaged, driven citizens of the world—both their own worlds and the world at large. The overarching goal of this plan is to continue that trajectory, and to do so in a more deliberate and visible manner. In implementing this plan, we solidify our ability to deliver the very best program, to cultivate the highest-caliber community, and to create an inspiring and supportive physical environment. We will reinforce those goals with efficient and effective advancement efforts . . . strategic marketing, admissions, and development programs that bring awareness and resources to our work. We fully realize that the world will change even more rapidly in the next 3 to 5 years than it has in the past 25. This plan is deliberately written to acknowledge and prepare for that rapid rate of change, and to allow the School to adapt as circumstances require us to do so. But just like the first plan 25 years ago, it remains (and will remain) solidly rooted in our mission to educate talented, accomplished, and intellectually engaged young artists from all over the world, and to do so in a diverse, humane, and ethical community.
Ensure that our programs continue to evolve in order to remain relevant, innovative, and challenging. Attract and retain the best and most diverse faculty, staff, and students. Advance the name and reputation of Walnut Hill School for the Arts locally, nationally, and internationally. Establish and implement purposeful and leading-edge practices that build community and nurture diversity. Ensure that the campus boldly projects and enhances the unique identity of Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Grow the School’s financial resources in order to ensure long-term sustainability.
READ MORE ONLINE Please visit stratplan.walnuthillarts.org to read the full plan. plan. 1 0 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 10
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:03 AM
An Interview with wendy wheeler, trustee emeritus Chief Marketing Officer Michele Levy spoke recently with Wendy Wheeler, whose work has had a tremendous impact on Walnut Hill. A faculty member from 1980 to 1984, Wendy joined the Board of Trustees in 1984, served as President from 1986 to 1994, and remained an active member of the Board until this year, when she was promptly named Trustee Emeritus.
school that has such a pervasive spirit—a spirit of adventure, of risk, of innovation, of collaboration. It’s a spirit which comes, I think, from the intense participation in and love for the arts of all its faculty and students. At every Board meeting, we are treated to a glimpse into the Walnut Hill of today . . . students speak on panels and share their art with us. All you need to do is listen and watch those students in order to understand that you’re in the midst of something special. That spirit has permeated the Board as well. Though we've been through plenty of rough patches, Walnut Hill has grown steadily in those 30 years, as has the Board of Trustees.
ML: How did you originally become involved at Walnut Hill School for the Arts? WW: Walnut Hill has been a hugely important and provocative part of my life for 30+ years, beginning with my 4 years on the faculty as Director of Counseling. I have loved every minute of it and have learned an enormous amount about the incalculable value of the arts in people’s lives, including my own. I have also learned about trusteeship and the awesome responsibility of leadership in a school. ML: I understand that you jumped right in with both feet, that Walnut Hill represented your first board appointment ever. WW: It’s true. I found myself very involved, very quickly! The potential and the passion were personally very exciting to me in 1984, and remain so today. The School has really engaged my own passions and energy. ML: True to form, you did not sit quietly on the sidelines as a novice Trustee. I hear that you led the charge on the School’s first-ever Strategic Plan? WW: It was an exciting time in the history of the School. It was just coming to terms with what it meant to be an arts school, just enrolling the first boy to this formerly all-girl campus. I was thrilled to be able to help lay the groundwork for the next evolution of the School. ML: Thirty years is a long time to be involved with one school. What is it about Walnut Hill that’s kept you this engaged for this long? WW: Though I have lived most of my life in and around schools, I don’t think I’ve ever been involved with a Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 11
ML: We are about to move into the implementation phase of our next Strategic Plan . . . a plan that you, once again, helped create. What are your thoughts on where the School is going? WW: Over the course of the years I’ve been involved, the mission has broadened. What has never changed is the spirit that drives everyone associated with the School . . . the passion that pervades the whole school.
{
Though I have lived most of my life in and around schools, I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a school that has such a pervasive spirit—a spirit of adventure, of risk, of innovation, of collaboration.
{
In addition, there has always been an underlying sense of daring, of risk-taking. All the way back to Misses Conant and Bigelow, there was a confidence that what the leadership of the School was doing was the right thing . . . that continued evolution allowed the school to carry on its essential reason to be. Antonio [Viva] is clearly the right Head of School for this period in its history, and the right person to carry on in that tradition of confident risk-taking. At his speech kicking off the School’s first capital campaign, Bob Keiter made reference to a “jet plane taking off.” Today, there is still that tremendous sense of trajectory. That, combined with the School’s continued agility and willingness to move with what’s new, positions it well for continued success! ABOVE Wendy Wheeler (left) and Marlene Rosenthal, College Counselors, in a 1982 Walnut Hill yearbook photo. Behind Stowe | 11
6/7/12 11:03 AM
Music Major Jae Hyuck Choi ’13 Earns Multiple Honors Worldwide
M
usic major Jae Hyuck Choi participated in Maestra Unsuk Chin’s master class at the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) in Seoul, Korea. Choi so greatly impressed Chin with his musical talent and enthusiastic attitude that he was invited to be a part of all of the composer’s future master classes; in addition, Choi was asked if the SPO could read and rehearse his orchestral piece next fall. He also attended French contemporary composer Pascal Dusapin’s master class, which was open to only five exceptional students. Choi earned the further honor of winning the Eastern Division of the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) Composition Competition.
David Hertzberg ’08 Chosen as the 2012–2014 Young Artists Composer-in-Residence
Do you have a notable
D
no less than 5 inches wide)
avid Hertzberg has been chosen as the 2012–2014 Young Concert Artists Composer-in-Residence. He will be commissioned by Young Concert Artists to write two works for musicians on the Young Concert Artists roster, who will premiere the works in New York and Washington, DC. Hertzberg has been commissioned to write a new work, for the New Juilliard Ensemble, which will be premiered at Alice Tully Hall next season. In May, he will work with Steven Stucky and Anders Hillborg at the Master Class Programme at the Swedish Collegium in Uppsala, Sweden, where he will have a new work premiered by the Stenhammar Quartet. He also plans to study with George Tsontakis at the Aspen Music Festival this summer. Hertzberg’s “Nympharum,” a cantata for high soprano and orchestra, was premiered at Alice Tully Hall in 2011 as a result of his winning the Juilliard Orchestra Competition. He was the recipient of a 2012 Charles Ives Scholarship, the Juilliard School’s 2011 Arthur Friedman Prize in Composition, and the William Schuman Award at the 2011 BMI Student Composer Awards.
1 2 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 12
accomplishment to share? If so, please send the details along with a high-resolution photo (at least 300 dpi and to alumni@walnuthillarts.org. Please feel free to contact us with any questions about submitting photos—we love hearing from you and want your accomplishment to shine!
To read more about our accomplishments, visit us at stowe.walnuthillarts.org
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/11/12 11:22 AM
ralph farris ’89 and etHeL Perform at Berklee College Ralph Farris and his group, ETHEL, performed “After Silence,” featuring music by John King, Steve Reich, and Aleksandra Vrebalov, on March 5 at Berklee College’s David Friend Recital Hall.
Grace Chung ’93 Performs at the taipei national Concert Hall
G
race Chung, who currently works as an associate professor of piano at Tainan National University of the Arts in Taiwan, gave a recital at the Taipei National Concert Hall on March 7 along with violinist Tien-Hsin Cindy Wu. The performance featured sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart, Schumann, and Frank. Antonio Viva, Evan Bennett, and Bruce Smith all had the pleasure of attending the concert while in Taiwan.
Jon Clark ’98 Premieres "nightSchool 2" Jon Clark recently premiered “Nightschool 2,” which included a movie, art installation, and book, at Synchronicity Space in Los Angeles. To learn more, go to www. synchronicityspacela.com/?p=1098.
Joe walsh ’06 Promoted to Principal of the Houston Ballet
michael maccaferri ’91 wins a Grammy Michael Owen, Director of the Walnut Hill Ballet program, with Houston Ballet dancer Joe Walsh. Walsh has been with the company since 2007. Learn more at houstonballet.org. Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 13
At the 54th Grammy Awards held on February 12 in Los Angeles, Michael Maccaferri and the rest of his Chicago-based sextet, eighth blackbird, won their third Grammy Award in the category of Best Small Ensemble Performance for the group’s recording of Steve Mackey’s “Lonely Motel: Music from Slide.” Winner of two previous Grammys for the recording “Strange Imaginary Animals," the group has been awarded a three-year residency at Curtis Institute of Music. Behind Stowe | 13
6/7/12 11:04 AM
Briga Heelan ’05 on Cougar Town
elizabeth ogonek ’06 named a marshall Scholar
Briga Heelan has had a recurring role as Holly in five episodes of Cougar Town on ABC.
Alexa niziak, Community Dance Academy Student, Cast on Broadway Alexa Niziak, a Community Dance Academy student, has been cast in a new Broadway show, Far from Heaven, directed by Michael Greif. Niziak will be playing the role of the daughter, Janice Whitaker. The show will have its preview production at the Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer.
Brad Koed ’07 on Broadway Brad Koed is in the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Andrew Garfield. Koed, who just graduated from Syracuse University last May, also has a role in the upcoming feature film Land of Tomorrow.
Elizabeth Ogonek was recently named a Marshall Scholar. Considered to be among the most selective postgraduate scholarships available to Americans, the Marshall Scholarships provide approximately 40 students with fully funded study at any university in the United Kingdom. Ogonek, who realized her passion for musical composition at Walnut Hill, plans to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
Skye Stevens ’10 releases music Video
matthew risch ’00 Performs at Lincoln Center
Skye Stevens ’10 is quickly breaking into the music business. Rock Society Records just released his “Takes All Night” music video, which you can find on MTV, VH1, Fuse, and YouTube. The record is playing nationally in clubs and on dance radio stations.
Matthew Risch performed the role of Trip Wyeth in the Tony-nominated drama Other Desert Cities at Lincoln Center for the month of December and then took over the role permanently in March. Other cast members include such well-known actors as Judith Light, Stockard Channing, and Stacy Keach.
1 4 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 14
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
Joshua Holden ’01 Tours with Peter Pan 360 º
ABOVE Joshua Holden ’01 talks with current Walnut Hill theater students about life after the Hill.
C
ongratulations to Joshua Holden, who toured with Peter Pan 360° as the production’s master puppeteer. Many Walnut Hill community members attended the spectacular show, including Jillian Kohl, Mike Bucco, Joe Cabral, and Antonio Viva. To read more, go to page 39.
Meredith Lustig ’05 in New York Opera Meredith Lustig played the mainstage role of Marie in New York City Opera’s production of Prima Donna. The show, by Rufus Wainwright, ran during February.
Ross Philips ’06 on Hart of Dixie Ross Philips is currently appearing on the TV show Hart of Dixie on the CW network. He told Antonio Viva, Bruce Smith, and Jillian Kohl during their recent visit to L.A., “I play Tom Long, an eccentric young guy in love with Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson). Due to the age difference and because Tom is a bit weird, I’m comic relief for the show. It’s not a huge role, but I’m happy to be playing a character and fully aware of how lucky I am to be a regular on a TV show after only having lived here for a year and a half!” Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 15
Walnut Hill Students Top the 2012 BSO Concerto Competition Nicholas Davies ’12, clarinet, and Jacob Thonis ’12, bassoon, both received First Place in the prestigious BSO Concerto Competition. Nick performed Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622, and was awarded the Harry & Marion Dubbs Brookline Youth Concerts Award. He performed with the Boston Pops at the Pops Family Concert in May 2012. Jake performed Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto in B-flat Major, K. 191, and was awarded the Cornelius A. & Muriel P. Wood Award. He will perform with the Boston Symphony at the March 2013 Family Concerts. Annabel Chiu ’13, double bass, performed the Bottesini Double Bass Concerto no. 2 and took Third Place, winning a cash prize.
To read ead more more about our accomplishments, visit us at stowe.walnuthillarts.org stowe.walnuthillarts.or
Elin Clark Lobel ’83 coauthors Dance and Somatics Elin Clark Lobel coauthored Dance and Somatics, published in March by McFarland & Company. The book focuses on the mind-body principles of teaching and performance. Lobel is an associate professor of kinesiology at Towson University in Maryland, the editor of the Journal of Laban Movement Studies, and a member of the editorial board for the Journal of Dance Education and the Feldenkrais Journal.
Behind Stowe | 15
6/11/12 11:22 AM
Anna Hu ’95 makes a Splash
Victor Huls ’11 excels in Cello
emilie Leriche ’11 Gets Praise in Press
Anna Hu made a splash on the red carpet in February when Academy Award–winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow wore a brilliant diamond bracelet that she had designed. After graduating from Walnut Hill, Hu continued her study of music at New England Conservatory until an injury led her to pursue her passion for gemology. To learn more about Anna Hu Haute Joaillerie and to see the unique designs, visit www.anna-hu.com/site.
Victor Huls won his division at the Tennessee Cello Workshop, held February 24–26. He was also selected to participate in the New York String Orchestra Seminar in December.
Former WH student Emilie Leriche dances with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In their “danc(e)volve: New Works Festival,” she was praised for her performance in “Never was,” as noted in this review: “The gorgeous duet uses the music of Handel and Purcell and almost extreme physicality to conjure an experience of cohesion and dissonance. Though the piece is not religious, I felt I was in the presence of pure holiness: silence fell over the already-awed crowd as dancers Emilie Leriche and Johnny McMillian came together and moved apart with precision and elasticity to the thrilling classical music.”
Careena melia ’91 Performs in Sleep No More Careena Melia performed in the critically acclaimed production of Sleep No More in New York City. She is part of the American Punchdrunk Theater Company and has been working with them since graduating from the M.F.A. program at American Repertory Theater/Moscow Art Theater.
Creative writing majors win multiple Awards Creative writing major Shelly Pires ’13 was one of only two high school juniors to be honored with a B.I.G. (Best in Grade) Award from the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. In addition, both Shelly and her classmate Courtney McCain ’13 were honored with a gold medal for the same competition. In other departmental news, the following students all received recognition in the 2012 Boston Globe Scholastic Writing Awards: Courtney McCain (2 Gold Keys), Shelly Pires (Gold Key), Emily Kessler ’14 (Silver Key), and Allison Avila-Olivares ’13, Adea Lennox ’13, and Casey Murtagh ’13 (Honorable Mention).
madi Vest ’13 and moon Sun Yoo ’13 on From the Top Madi Vest and Moon Sun Yoo both recently appeared on National Public Radio’s From the Top, heard nationwide.
Yoo ra Chae ’09 Interns in Paris RISD student Yoo Ra Chae is spending a semester abroad studying in Paris, and was chosen to intern for Alexander Wang during Fashion Week in Paris.
Samantha Hankey ’11 Chosen for HBo Series Samantha Hankey has had the incredible honor of being chosen by Renée Fleming as one of four young singers to work with the artist in the HBO series YoungArts’ MASTERCLASS.
Students Shine in national Classical Singer Competition
Photos courtesy of From the Top
1 6 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 16
Five Walnut Hill students placed in the National Round of the Classical Singer Competition: Erika Anderson ’12, Regional Finalist; Michael Gonzalez ’12, Tatum Robertson ’13, and William Su ’13, National Semifinalists; and Ashley Robillard ’13, Top 8 National Finalist. www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
While we find all of our students here at Walnut Hill to be fascinating individuals, doing interesting and inspiring things, when they leave the Hill they often become even more so. We present here the stories of three very different alumni, who experienced Walnut Hill at different times during its evolution. Enjoy, be inspired, and send us your stories!
by Sue eckstein ’78
S
ometime in my final year at school in suburban London, I chanced upon a little notice about an EnglishSpeaking Union exchange program between schools in the UK and the USA Without giving it much thought, I applied. In September of 1977, I arrived at Walnut Hill, the rather reserved product of a very academic girls’ school at which any involvement in the arts was frowned upon as detracting from potential exam success. Walnut Hill opened up my horizons. It offered me art history, pottery, drama and dance, new kinds of friends, and new experiences. I loved the drama classes in which I felt myself beginning to expand and flourish, and hated the ballet classes in which I watched myself literally expand as I ate bowl after bowl of the ice cream eschewed by the more serious dancers. After a year at Walnut Hill I returned to England, where I studied English literature, and had a long career with Voluntary Service Overseas. I then moved sideways into an academic post at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Along the way, I wrote a couple of novels, wrote several radio plays, earned a doctorate in creative writing, and gained a husband and two children. I think back to my year at Walnut Hill as hugely significant. I learned to live in a very alien environment a long way from home, a skill I found so useful when I went on to live and work first in Sri Lanka and then in the Gambia and Bhutan. I learned about hospitality and generosity from my Walnut Hill friends, and their friends and acquaintances, with whom I stayed as I traveled across the continent by Greyhound Bus. I hope that I
have always extended a similar hand of friendship and hospitality wherever I have lived. I learned about the importance of the arts in all aspects of education. As a teacher of medical ethics, I routinely use film, fiction, drama, and poetry to illustrate ethical issues. Most importantly, I learned resilience and tenacity and not to be afraid to take on things that are outside of my experience, to embrace even the hardest experiences as a challenge—something I have been particularly grateful for during the past two years in which I have had to learn to live as an above-knee amputee.
{
Most importantly, I learned resilience and tenacity and not to be afraid to take on things that are outside of my experience, to embrace even the hardest experiences as a challenge . . .
{
How way Leads on to way
We never know quite “how way leads on to way.” I don’t think it is a complete coincidence, for example, that now my daughter is about to spend a year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, as part of her degree in American and English literature. I have no doubt that my experiences at Walnut Hill have helped me navigate all the various roads I’ve taken throughout a fascinating and blessed life. Sue Eckstein is the author of The Cloths of Heaven (Myriad, 2009) and Interpreters (Myriad, 2011). She has blogged about her experience of amputation at sueeckstein.wordpress.com/.
(reprinted from Behind Stowe Online)
Surprising Places by matan Chorev ’01
T
en years ago this December, only one thing managed to distract me from my upcoming conservatory auditions: the legal drama unfolding in Florida over the disputed presidential elections. Shuffling through my Walnut Hill yearbook recently, I chuckled when I saw that my senior quote was “Recall!” While my
Photo courtesy of Sue Eckstein ’78
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 17
Behind Stowe | 17
6/7/12 11:04 AM
interests in international politics were apparent at the time (I was, regrettably, voted “most likely to be a politician”), I could not have imagined a professional career different from that of a performing cellist. I can scantly recall any of my fellow music majors actively imagining and planning a life path that did not involve a professional career in the arts.
Despite my nonartistic career—is there anything less artsy than being a government bureaucrat?—I have sought ways to remain actively involved in the arts world. As a member of the School’s Board of Trustees, I am motivated to help Walnut Hill achieve its objective of crafting a model for arts education in the 21st century. As so many of us have discovered, the value of our time on the Hill went well beyond developing the technical mastery of our craft. In addition to the subject matters we studied (and may have subsequently forgot), a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, ethical, and collaborative education developed many aspects of artistry beyond the wizardry of the virtuoso. Creativity, social awareness, empathy, and critical thinking were essential ingredients in arriving at our respective surprising places. The current political, economic, and cultural crossroads in America place these values and the place of the artist-citizen at risk. Ensuring that Walnut Hill is able to remain a haven for future generations as it was for us is ever more critical. As historic political change unfolds throughout North Africa and the Middle East, artists are once again leading the charge and supplying the soundtrack of history. It should not surprise us. Instead, it should inspire us to reconnect with our inner artist and ensure that whatever gift and craft we hold, it not be for ourselves alone.
Ten years later, many of us find ourselves in surprising places. For some, the scalpel has replaced the bow, and lines of computer programming have supplanted composition sketches. For others, the artistic path altered remarkably from its classical origins—trumpeters laid down tracks for rappers, Paganini virtuosos took on the avant-garde, and soloist wunderkinds emerged as some of the leading chamber players of their generation. As for me, I find myself working as a diplomat in Morocco, helping program millions of dollars in U.S. foreign assistance to advance the country’s political and economic development.
{
Despite my nonartistic career—is there anything less artsy than being a government bureaucrat?—I have sought ways to remain actively involved in the arts world.
1 8 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 18
{
Matan Chorev ’01 is a Foreign Service Officer serving in Rabat, Morocco. He joined the Walnut Hill Board of Trustees in 2010. He can be reached at matan.chorev@ gmail.com. (reprinted from Behind Stowe Online)
Reflections on transitions and Social Change Excerpted from the words of Dr. Nancy Harris ’62, Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Women’s Studies Department at Manhattanville College. Dr. Harris was the guest speaker for Alumni Weekend 2012.
D
r. Harris, a member of the 50th Reunion class, completely engaged her audience by addressing this statement: “We can’t know ourselves if we don’t understand what’s happening at the intersection of biography and history.”
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
She provided insights into her own background (“Like many alums, I did not want to come to Walnut Hill. It was not Walnut Hill . . . I just did not want to go away to school”) and her experience once she settled in at the School (“At Walnut Hill I grew up in a wonderful safe place”). She then drew from the responses to the memory book questionnaire to sketch a broad biographical portrait of the Class of 1962, putting those in the “social context in which we have lived for the past 50 years.” As she commented, “Changes do come in big and little ways and they are all important . . . reproductive choices, the antiwar movement, first test tube baby, assassinations of world leaders, 9/11, the largest influx of women entering the paid workforce. . . . We lived, and still live in a time when the rapidity of change befuddles and confuses us.”
young ladies . . . who would then go to college, marry, have children, volunteer, and become helpmate to the breadwinner.” She went on to comment, “With the women’s movement, all of a sudden we had choices . . . for the first time in our lives. These new possibilities varied
{
For the School to make more important transitions, it is imperative that we continue to support it.
{
in so many ways from our mothers’ agendas.” She pointed out that “Walnut Hill was also going through great change . . . they made the brave and exciting decision to change the mission to become an academic school with a focus on students with a passionate love of the arts, creating a new bold, dynamic vision based on the values Misses Conant and Bigelow originally espoused.” Finally, she reflected back on a question she had asked earlier in the day: “Why are you here today?” She pointed out that the reason is simple. “We wish, individually and collectively, to recognize the extraordinary school that was and is Walnut Hill. We are part of a larger community of alumni, parents, administration, faculty, and friends who make up this wonderful dynamic school.” She went on to say, “These relationships, and the history of the institution, are inextricably linked with both the personal and social worlds we live in. The Class of 1962 and the School itself have made many successful transitions. For the School to make more important transitions, it is imperative that we continue to support it. It is equally important for us to remain part of the institutional legacy. By being here you honor the Walnut Hill of the past, present, and future.”
Harris described a Walnut Hill experience that was very circumscribed, “Our very days were controlled. . . . That was a part of a larger, privileged understanding of what constituted young ladies and the equally important idea of in locus parentis. The School’s mission was to shape us into acceptable
From left to right: Courtesy of Matan Chorev ’01; Molly Clark
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 19
SEE MORE ONLINE
➡
Please visit chorev.walnuthillarts.org to read more about Matan Chorev's career. Please visit harris.walnuthillarts.org to view Dr. Nancy Harris’s speech delivered at Alumni Weekend 2012. Behind Stowe | 19
6/7/12 11:04 AM
thank you to everyone who visited for Alumni weekend!
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Class of 1962: Janet Leavitt, Priscilla Coffin, Janet Yeutter, Ginny Friberg; Carolyn Singers '42 and her son, Tom; Class of 1972: Susan Frawley, Betsy Grady Sullivan, Marsha Stewart, Jane Rakip, Martha Patrick; Class of 1942: Carolyn Singers and Judy Gross; Cynthia Newell Oliver (Non Nobis Solum Recipient) ’62 and Meg Wheeler ’62; DeAnne Rosenberg ’57 and Keeler Near ’14 2 0 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 20
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Class of 1952: Ellie Sanderson, Gretchen Mamis, Gail Johnston, Elizabeth Baxter, Marguerite Jablonski; Visual art master class; Hope Webbe ’07, Amy Newman ’08, Ian Mazurek ’06, Emily Hatch ’07, Nicole Cerutti ’07; Class of 2002: Greg Coughlin, Debbie Siegel, Jonathan Parks-Ramage, Kelsey Miller; Class of 1962: back row: Tina Slosberg, Sarah Cross Mills, Charlotte Gallagher, Ann Racine-Bessey, Ginny Friberg, Janet Yeutter, Elizabeth Taylor-Huey, Priscilla Coffin, Mary Megias, Meg Wheeler, Sally Manning, Susan Brauner, PJ Mason, Nancy Harris, Cynthia Oliver, front row: Marjorie Birkinbine, Sherry Lowe, Hilary White, Martha Kerr, Janet Hicks, Dee Larsen, Janet Leavitt, Linda Wakefield, Jane Murphy, Carol Peschel; Class of 1972: back row: Marsha Stewart, BJ Burnham, Nancy Sporborg, Linda Piccinini, Barbara Goldberg, front row: Martha Patrick, Diana Kerr, Gay Appleby Rogers, Elizabeth Biggs, Sarah Correia
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 21
Behind Stowe | 21
6/7/12 11:04 AM
Shakespeare Project November 30
All Shook Up October 21–23
english Composers’ Concert
December 9
Dead Man’s Cell Phone
November 10–13
2 2 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 22
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
"the results of philanthropy are always beyond calculation." — miriam Beard Participation matters. make your gift to the Annual fund at giving.walnuthillarts.org
Honors Chamber music Concert December 12
Anthology January 12
Nutcracker
December 6–17
winter Visual Art Show January 18 Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 23
Behind Stowe | 23
6/7/12 11:04 AM
The Musical Adventures of Flat Stanley January 28–29
Black on White March 24
Spring Dance repertory
April 12–15
The Cripple of Inishmaan February 23–26
Spring opera: Cinderella March 31–April 1
2 4 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 24
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
New Works
May 24–25
Spring Visual Art Show
Composers’ Concert
May 29
May 20
Chamber music Honors Concert May 22
Anything Goes May 11–20
readings from The Blue Pencil May 29
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 25
Behind Stowe | 25
6/7/12 11:04 AM
RIGHT Lynn Tuach Stroud ’60 (left) and Jane Oxford Keiter ’60 in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, in February
1932
Traveling the world? Recently married or enjoying a new addition to the family? Starting a new career or just retired? Share your professional news, personal milestones, and messages with fellow Walnuts. submit class notes online at stowe.walnuthillarts. org or email alumni@ walnuthillarts.org. We love including your photos in Class Notes. Photos should be at least 300 dpi and no less than 5 inches wide. Please feel free to contact us with questions…we want to make sure your photos look terrific.
For more Class Notes, go to stowe.walnuthillarts.org
2 6 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 26
Martha Flynn CunninghaM ’63 tells us that her mom, Edith CECil Flynn, is doing well and living in her own home in Chestertown, MD. The two often talk about their happy days at Walnut Hill.
1948
Carolyn rusk devotes her time to writing governments about the lack of human rights in their countries through Amnesty International’s Urgent Action Office. She writes, “I also enjoy visiting my sister in Syracuse and her son’s family that includes an 8-year-old greatnephew.”
1955
rosEMariE straus roth is a collaborative family lawyer in Miami, FL, where she founded the Collaborative Family Law Institute in 1999. The practice focuses on using collaborative law, a nonadversarial process in which the parties and attorneys agree not to go to court, thus allowing clients to negotiate their own agreement with the guidance of
their respective attorneys, a neutral mental health professional, and a neutral financial professional. Currently president of the Collaborative Family Law Council of Florida, Rosemarie and her business partner head up Florida Collaborative Trainers, which trains attorneys and other professionals in the collaborative methodology. They also teach a course in collaborative law at the University of Miami School of Law. Rosemarie is married to Stanley H. Roth and has two children and six grandchildren.
1957
A retired chaplain, sally BEnnEtt Edwards now vounteers at Continuing Care Retirement Community. She also participates in Yale Bioethics meetings.
1960
lynn tuaCh stroud and JanE oxFord kEitEr reunited in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, in February. After all these years, it was the first time they were able to bring their families together.
1962
linda daMon wakEFiEld enjoyed a great visit in April 2011 from dEE drEssEr larsEn and husband Jim. Linda and her husband have nine grandchildren, so they travel to Virginia and Pennsylvania often. She writes, “Looking forward to our 50th Reunion in 2012!”
1963
Martha Flynn CunninghaM and her mother, Edith CECil Flynn ’32, often talk about their happy days at Walnut Hill. Edith is doing well and still lives in her own home in Chestertown, MD.
1969
ChristinE MilEs recently “retired” after 25 years as director of the Albany Institute of History and Art in Albany, NY. She now plans to start her own consulting business with a goal of serving arts and cultural organizations. Christine is also enjoying her wonderful life with her husband, Jake, and their family and friends.
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 1:27 PM
1970
JuLiA MitChELL VArriALE is an online instructor with UCLA Extension, College Counseling Certificate Program.
1972
JACquELiNE DuNN informed us that her mother, MiDA VAN ZuYLEN DuNN, who taught French at Walnut Hill from 1967 to 1968, passed away at the end of November 2011 with her family by her side.
1975
LuCiA roDriguEZ DEtNoLD is married to an Englishman and has two children, Michael (20) and Anna (19), who are both currently away at college.
1976
DEBorAh MurrAY has been teaching ballet for 30 years and still loves it! She also takes art classes, another interest she has had since attending Walnut Hill.
RIGHT Roman Criss, son of Nicole Gallant Criss ’92, painting
community and create connections within the school and the town. She notes, “We encourage giving back to our community through performance and through donations to local shelters and arts groups.”
1993
ALEx WAtErMAN unexpectedly visited campus in March with wife Elissa and 22-month-old son Eliot! They toured around campus and saw Alex’s old room in Clark Dorm. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. in musicology at NYU. He is also proud to be directing the opera Vidas Perfectas, which was made possible by an NEA grant. For more information, go to www.vidasperfectas.org.
1994 ABOVE Tori Cargill, daughter of Nicole Gakidis ’78, performs the role of Scout in the Boston Children’s Theatre production of To Kill a Mockingbird.
“She was an amazing woman who graced our lives and taught more than just French verbs. She was a strong advocate of private schools and set up an award at Rivers for Teachers of Excellence.” Jacqueline also writes, “SArAh PErrY and I are reconnecting on that wonderful new site Facebook. Fun to share insights and comments as time goes on.”
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 27
1978
SuZANNE hoEY is currently the head law librarian at the Worcester Law Library in Worcester, MA. Suzanne, husband Tim, and son Conor live in Springfield, MA.
1988
Congratulations to JAYNE SAMuELS, who recently opened her own Pilates studio in Austin, TX, called Simply Pilates. Visit it online at simplypilatesstudio.com. ChArLottE grAM DoYLE owns a dance studio called Pineapple Dance, in North Amherst, MA, which offers a variety of classes and performance opportunities. In addition, Charlotte and her faculty help to build
After launching and managing the Parents Fund at Wellesley College, CourtNEY grEENE has moved into a role in Reunion Giving at the Harvard College Fund. She writes, “Beautiful and brilliant classmates: we have less than two years until our 20th Walnut Hill Reunion. Bring your entourage and let’s make it massive!”
BELOW Helen Hayashi ’90 and son Martin Leo Hayashi at the National Musuem of Art in Osaka
Send us photos of your young artist! Visit stowe.walnuthillarts.org to submit a photo.
Cellist ANNiE ChANg joined the Walnut Hill gathering in Taipei, playing bossa nova in a special performance for visitors Antonio Viva, Evan Bennett, and Bruce Smith. Annie performs across multiple genres of music, from classical to jazz to pop music. She is a member of the Afternoon Tree Crossover Trio. MELANiE ELMS completed a four-year professional training program in classical homeopathic medicine and recently opened her own practice. She also has danced with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company for 12 years and will be with the group when they perform at the Tel Aviv Opera House next November. Melanie writes, “I share my life with my 2-year-old son, Jasper, and his papa, Dylan.”
Behind Stowe | 27
6/7/12 11:04 AM
Connecting with Alumni nationwide In October, more than 40 alumni joined Antonio Viva, Bruce Smith, Jillian Kohl, and Joe Cabral in New York City. Pictured at page bottom are Allison Dubuisson ’92, Nicole Gallant Criss ’92, Jesse Singer ’92, and Maximillan Pelczmann San Sebastian ’92. Antonio Viva caught up with Zoe Scofield ’97 (pictured below) and Dinny Hall Polson ’53 while attending the Association of Boarding Schools Conference in Seattle. We were delighted to reconnect with alumni, parents, and friends in Austin and Houston in February. In Houston, Michael Owen and Lorie Komlyn caught up with Walnuts at the Houston Ballet and explored the new Center for Dance. Jennifer TumSuden joined them for a performance of the Houston Ballet’s Cinderella with the Walsh family. Joe Walsh ’06 excelled as the handsome, narcissistic Prince in Stanton Welch’s reimagined fairy tale. While in Los Angeles, Antonio Viva, Jillian Kohl, and Bruce Smith also met with Ross (Francis) Philips ’06, Van Hansis ’00, and Janet Carol Norton ’88. In February, members of the senior administration presented at the CASE/NAIS conference for colleges and independent schools in San Francisco, followed shortly thereafter by a presentation at the NAIS conference in Seattle. While in San Francisco, we hosted a lively reception for 20 alumni, ranging from the Class of 1961 to the Class of 2011. We also dined with Emily Weissman Schindler ’89, who described her evolution from theater major to writer to wine importer, and regaled us with tales of building her business, Winemonger.com.
2 8 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 28
RIGHT Alex Waterman ’93 and 22-month-old son Eliot took a tour of Clark Dormitory.
1996
rAChEL BiNDErMAN JorDAN is doing digital corporate marketing for Bright Horizons in Watertown, MA. She writes, “I manage our b2b Twitter handle (@BHatWork), blog (Solutions at Work), our digital ad campaigns, webinars, multichannel campaigns (email/direct mail/web), landing pages, and more. It’s challenging and fun, and a great way to put my creativity to work in unexpected ways.” Rachel is also a mom to 2-year-old Houston.
ShiNg-ShuN LiN is now working as an immigration lawyer at a refugee resettlement agency in Denver, CO.
1997
rAShiDA BLACk is working as director of public relations for the University of Chicago Department of Music.
1999 ABOVE A sculpture by Ah-Rim Kang ’98 on display at Sichung in Seoul
NAYA ChANg attended the Walnut Hill gathering in Taipei with sister ANNiE ChANg ’94 and mother Alice Chang.
BELOW Leah Reid ’04 and fiancé, Shayna Bentkover ’04, and Sean Waugh ’04 in Los Angeles
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
1998
JoVANNA huguEt married Andrew Burke in 2010 and had a baby girl, Evelyn Sadie Rose Burke, in December 2011. Jovanna started a production company in Vancouver called True Heroines Entertainment, Inc. The company focuses on producing The True Heroines, which follows the escapades of three 1950s housewives who share a dangerous secret: they have superpowers. The True Heroines is a multiplatform, interactive universe, comprised of a web series and bimonthly live cabaret show, as well as an upcoming print comic and collectible card game. Audiences are able to follow their favorite characters across these various media, creating a truly interactive fan experience. Walnuts can learn more about it at www.thetrueheroines.com. Jovanna writes, “I miss my Walnuts and think of my days in Stowe Tower fondly. Much love and success to all the Walnuts out there.” Thank you to Ah-riM kANg for attending the Walnut Hill Seoul Arts Festival
ABOVE Evelyn Sadie Rose Burke, daughter of Jovanna Huguet ’98, born in December 2011 RIGHT Jovanna Huguet at her wedding to Andrew Burke in 2010
sponsored by the Korean Parents’Association in March. A successful artist, she has works on display at Sichung, Donduck Women’s University, and Hongik University. SArAh LAkEY is dancing with the Polaris Dance Theatre in Portland, OR.
missions and recruitment for Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University in Philadelphia.
1999
2001
roSA NorEEN was a featured instructor and performer at the Las Vegas Belly Dancing Intensive, one of the largest belly dance festivals in the country.
2000
MArY gArCiA recently began working in dance ad-
LAurEN CriDDLE graduated from UCLA with a master’s degree in music in 2011, topping off her college career with a recital that she says “displayed the intense technical work I had done with my incredible new voice teacher, Vladimir Chernov.” Since graduation, she has modeled for Midori, where she “landed on a billboard across Hollywood with Kim Kardashian, which was ironic as I never wear shorts and had no idea who Kim Kardashian was”; sung in the Fringe Festival in Scotland; and performed in Company XIV’s production of Snow White in New York.
2002 ABOVE Informal reunion: Jordan McCullough ’94 with son Duncan; Olivia St. Onge Torocco ’95 with daughter Michaela; Sabreena Kiviat Kropp ’94 with son Calder and daughter Eliana; Jonathan Pitts ’93 with daughter Madeline; Jeremy Conn ’94 with son Max; Val McKee ’95 with sons Raleigh and Carson; and Samantha Lipsitz Stanlaske ’94 with sons Noah and Jaxson. Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 29
SuSAN gooDWiLLiE traveled to Japan in December and spent Christmas Day in Tokyo with rEiNA tokurA ’03.
FAriN LoEB is living in New York City and working as a stage director and dramaturg. She has worked with Little Opera Theater of NY, Yale Opera, and others. She has also started fundraising for her own productions and doing dramatic coaching for singers. If that isn’t enough, Farin has also been working as a stage manager with Apple Core Theater and LAByrinth Theater. She urges fellow Walnuts to contact her: “Walnut Hill was so important to me and I’d love to give back in an artistically meaningful way.” EriN giNN performed in her fourth season with SENSEDANCE in November at the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center. riChArD hArPEr is completing his final year at Georgetown Law in Washington, DC. He plans on returning to New York City this summer to study for the bar and work at a law firm. He hopes to practice litigation. Richard writes, “I’m sorry to miss my Behind Stowe | 29
6/7/12 11:04 AM
How long have you been working at Walnut Hill?
I began working at Walnut Hill in August of 2010. After getting married last July, my husband and I also became the Dorm Heads in Highland Hall in August of 2011.
Tell us about your background. What were you doing before you came to Walnut Hill?
I worked in higher education for eight years before coming to Walnut Hill. After I graduated from Bowdoin College, I had an intense desire to live in New York City, and was lucky enough to get a job in the Drama Division at the Juilliard School, which I absolutely adored. Although I come from a theater background, this was my first taste of working on the more administrative side, with students who were so wholly devoted to their art. I got to experience everything, from sitting in on auditions and reviewing applications, to assisting with showcases and watching work transform from the page to the stage. Juilliard is a tremendously electric and special place. From Juilliard, I got a job in the Drama Department at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, which gave me a whole new perspective on the role of art in education. This job was instrumental in solidifying my desire to work with students in an advising capacity, and afforded me additional experience with the audition process for B.F.A. programs. I was also blown away and inspired by the manner in which these students balanced their theater work with an intense passion for academics. After six years in NYC, New England began to call my name again; I missed my family, nature, and grilling outside in the summer! I got a job at Brandeis University, where I worked in a dual role in both academic advising and admissions. When the job at Walnut Hill was posted, I knew that this was the perfect place for me (and I’m glad that they agreed!). All of my experiences to that point led me here, and gave me a greater appreciation for the types of programs and opportunities that exist for our students. Photo by Reena Baami
3 0 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 30
What kinds of services are you able to offer students and families in your office?
On the surface, it might seem like the services we offer only pertain to helping students with their applications. The work that we do, though, is much deeper than that. It’s really more about self-discovery and exploration. The right school is not a ’prize to be won,’ but, rather, a ’match to be made.’ So, we engage students in conversations about their goals, asking them to consider the qualities in life (and in a college) that are most important to them. There are so many options for what any given student can do after he or she leaves Walnut Hill, so it is our job to help students uncover that information and encourage them to own their process.
Part of this journey involves exposing students to the different types of options that exist, and we are fortunate to team up with a variety of colleges, universities, conservatories, and alternative programs around the country and the world. Each year, we invite nearly 100 admissions representatives to campus to meet with our students. Of course, this allows students to learn more, but it also has a remarkable impact on our relationship with these schools, and helps to spread the gospel about Walnut Hill. Additionally, we offer services in academic planning beginning with the 9th and 10th graders. This is not meant to overwhelm students, or get them started too early in the process; rather, it is meant to get them to think about what is important to them, and what their
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
individual strengths may be. The real work begins in junior year, when students start to develop their college lists, visit various schools and programs, and focus in a little more on what it is that they might want to do.
What’s on the horizon for the College Counseling Office in the future?
We have a myriad of programs and events that we’re planning for students and families in the coming months. Our main goal is for students to feel comfortable in this process, and for parents, who are often tens, hundreds, and thousands of miles away, to feel informed and involved. We will continue to offer programming during Family Weekend, but we are also committed to using technology to help reach more families, specifically by offering more livestream workshops. Topics on the horizon include financial aid and scholarships, essay and resume writing, increased tutoring opportunities for TOEFL/SAT/ACT, and targeted sessions for each art area.
What makes our College Counseling Office different from what a student might find at another school?
One of the biggest differences between the way that our students face this process versus the way students do at other schools is that the vast majority of our artists apply to at least one (although usually many) audition- or portfolio-based schools. This added element can sometimes be anxiety-inducing, but this is also the path that makes our students tick. As such, the College Counseling Office approaches each student’s goals and situation from a truly comprehensive and holistic standpoint. First and foremost, we work with students to uncover their individual aspirations, both educationally and personally. Then, we collaborate with academic and arts faculty to assess a student’s strengths. These conversations help us to make informed recommendations. We also pride ourselves on communication with parents and families, which I think is instrumental in the success of students’ experiences in this process. We are incredibly lucky to have such a small and tight-knit community, and I have to give a tremendous amount of credit to the faculty and staff, and to families as well. It truly is a team effort across all constituencies, here on campus and around the world.
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 31
Our students are accepted to an impressive list of colleges/conservatories. What do you think sets them apart from other students applying?
When I worked at both NYU and Juilliard, I sorted through thousands of applications and saw countless students audition for these highly selective programs. I specifically remember the Walnut Hill students who walked through the door because they had a maturity and sense of preparedness that was palpable. I remember them, of course, as being talented, but also as being articulate, poised, and self-reflective. I think that this is a testament to the type of training that our faculty is so committed to providing here, both in academics and in the arts. It also speaks to the type of student body that we have at Walnut Hill. We have students from all over the world, with different backgrounds, and I think that this diversity engenders curiosity, acceptance, and tolerance that is rare in a high school setting.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I absolutely love getting to know each student individually. On the surface, it may seem like all the musicians want to go to NEC, or all of the visual artists want to go to RISD. What I find, though, is that every student is different. They all have their own goals and aspirations, and helping them to discover this is a real pleasure. I also love watching the transformation that students go through from the time I start working with them as juniors through the day they walk downtown for Graduation. Regardless of the outcomes of this process (there are always joys and disappointments), it is tremendously rewarding to see students grow and find their way.
What is your favorite part of working at Walnut Hill?
In a word: community. I love that everyone is here because they want to be here and they love what they do. The passion that emanates from the students, faculty, and staff is utterly contagious, and I truly enjoy coming to work every day. I also love my commute— only about 200 steps from Highland Hall to the ATC!
Behind Stowe | 31
6/7/12 11:04 AM
10-year Reunion. Graduation is occuring on the same weekend! Please know that attending Walnut Hill was a truly wonderful experience and I truly look forward to supporting the school in the years to come.”
2003
PEtEr VAN DAM was assistant to the producer of Stephen Sondheim’s Company at the New York Philharmonic. The production was filmed for cinemas. He also recently assisted director Lonny Price on his new musical, Kiki Baby, for the New York Musical Theatre Festival. NiLS NEuBErt recently sang in a production with the Liederkranz Opera Theatre and performed Bach cantatas with Bach Vespers in New York and at Michigan State University. He also performed roles in the operas Don Pasquale with Underworld Productions Opera Ensemble and My Last Duchess at Symphony Space. He is still teaching voice at William Paterson University and the Music
Conservatory of Westchester, and he is in the process of earning his doctorate degree at the CUNY Graduate Center. MiChAEL “riLEY” SMith received a master’s degree in biomedical engineering from Washingon University in St. Louis in 2009. As an undergraduate, he completed a second major in ancient studies and spent two summers at archaeological digs in Greece. Riley also has a second master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies with a major in European studies and economics. While at SAIS, he traveled to London, Brussels, and Vienna as well as Lithuania and Belarus to meet with officials and business leaders. Riley currently resides in Washington, DC. To read more about Riley, visit rsmith.walnuthillarts.org.
2005
Although JoShuA FiNN had moved to the West Coast in 2009 to be an actor, he found he had “fallen in love with the business side of the
BELOW Erin Ginn ’02 continues to perform with SENSEDANCE in New York City.
industry” and sought to become an agent instead. He is now a talent manager at Stein Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, representing television and film actors. One actor on his roster is good friend and actress BrigA hEELAN ’05, who he introduced to the casting office that put her on the ABC show Cougar Town. Josh currently lives in Brentwood and says that “life couldn’t be better.”
ABOVE Susan Goodwillie ’02 (left) and Reina Tokura ’03 enjoying karaoke
MErEDith CrAWForD is now a tenured member of the Pacific Symphony in Costa Mesa, CA, playing the viola. She also subs with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and plays with several different small chamber groups in the area. She graduated from Oberlin with a double degree in English and violin performance. Meredith is also on the faculty of the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, NC, where she sits assistant principal. EMiLY SALMoN will be graduating from Juilliard in the spring with an M.M. in violin performance. JESSE VAN BurEN is living in Brooklyn, NY, along with a sizable contingency of his
3 2 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 32
cohorts from Walnut Hill, Deep Springs College, and Reed College. Soprano SArAh ShEChtMAN received her M.M. in vocal performance from Boston Conservatory under the instruction of former Walnut Hill faculty member Patty Thom. Sarah had also received her B.M. degree from Boston Conservatory in 2009. She has appeared in operatic and musical theater productions throughout the New England area. At the conservatory, her recent roles include Peep-Bo in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, the Dew Fairy in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Lisette in Puccini’s La Rondine, First Spirit in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Little Red in Little Red’s Most Unusual Day, a children’s opera by John Davies. Sarah has also appeared in numerous productions in Italy.
2006
DoNALD Borror graduated from Juilliard with his bachelor of dance degree in May 2010 and earned the Martha Hill Prize for artistic achievement and leadership. Just before graduation, he was hired by Ballet Hispanico and is currently in his second season with the company. Since December 2010, BLAkE hiNSoN has been principal bass with the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra. He played as soloist with the Des Moines Symphony in February 2011, substituted with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and recently substituted with the Detroit Symphony. www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
CAroLiNE ALMY plans on attending the Columbia University School of Nursing in August, where she will earn both a second bachelor’s degree (she received her
now settled into painting at MassArt and serving as a teacher’s assistant. You can see my work on Tumblr: themermaidmachine.tumblr. com.”
ABOVE Detail of Olivia, painting by Jordan Piantedosi ’07
first in psychology) and a master’s degree in nursing. She plans to specialize in pediatrics with a concentration in hematology/oncology and will graduate in 2015 as a pediatric nurse practitioner. She writes, “I’ve always been very grateful for the ways in which my Walnut Hill education has shaped my future academic experiences. While not directly "artistic," the path I’ve taken has in many ways been a direct result of my time spent at WH.” JorDAN PiANtEDoSi exhibited works in an art show titled “The Salon” at Yes.Oui. Si Gallery in Boston from February through March. He writes, “I completed a year of foundation work at Maryland Institute College of Art and then toured with a performance group in Baltimore, worked at various coffee shops, but am
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 33
2007
AuDrEY Wright was featured on the NPR radio program From the Top, hosted by Christopher O’Reilly. Audrey is a member of the Futura String Quartet, which was founded at New England Conservatory in September 2010 and was recognized early on as a promising young ensemble. Since its inception, the group has performed in NEC’s Jordan Hall multiple times and in the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, as well as participated in the 2011 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2011 McGill String Quartet Academy in Montreal, Quebec. BENJAMiN WArNEr is in his second season with Ballet Memphis, after graduating from Indiana University Ballet Theater. Last season, Ben played Paris in Romeo and Juliet, among other roles.
toNY rYMEr attends New England Conservatory in Boston and studies with Paul Katz as the recipient of the Laurence Lesser Presidential Scholarship. Tony played at TCAN (The Center for Arts in Natick) in December 2011 as part of the TCAN Young Masters Series. gEN toMuro continues to pursue his mastery as a pianist. This past year, Gen was one of five participants in the International Certificate for Piano Artists program. The concept behind the ICPA is “to find the most talented graduates of the world’s finest conservatories and universities, players who are already performing in distinguished venues and winning competitions, and then give their careers a boost with the advocacy of the ICPA and opportunities for master classes and sponsored performances.”
ABOVE Audrey Wright ’07 with the Futura String Quartet
2008
PAtriCk M c guirE is currently a B.M. candidate at Juilliard and is anticipating graduation this spring. In September 2011, he organized a group of 22 Juilliard musicians to run a 5K fundraising race for the organization Music That Heals. MTH sends performers to seriously
ill children and adults throughout New York City and has reached more than 100,000 patients since its inception in 1997. He and his team are maintaining an active relationship with MTH and hope to participate in some of their events in hospitals, nursing homes, Alzheimer’s/dementia centers, and HIV/AIDS clinics in the coming months. Fellow 2008 WH alum thoMAS MESA ran the race as well. Patrick says, “I’m currently researching how posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has shaped music therapy since World War II in a research project for Scholastic Distinction at Juilliard.”
2009
CoLiN hArt has been studying in China this year. He was in Shanghai over the summer and in Beijing in the fall. In addition to taking classes, he interned at Great Wall Club, a CEO networking company specifically for tech companies, primarily writing articles for their tech blog.
2010
kAtE MAxtED and NiCoLE DougLAS ’11 are both dancing with the Colorado Ballet’s 2nd Company. In November 2011, PEtEr MiLL performed as one of the stepsisters in Donald Mahler’s Cinderella at New York Theatre Ballet. They did
For more Class Notes, visit stowe.walnuthillarts.org
Behind Stowe | 33
6/7/12 11:04 AM
LEFT Donald Borror ’06 (right) with fellow company member Jeffrey Sykes after the Ballet Hispanico performance at Emerson’s Cutler Majestic Theater in Boston
or potentially Spanish language and culture. He is integrally involved with the dance scene on campus as a member of the student company Princeton University Ballet and of the Dance Department, and he still keeps up his piano for himself and to enjoy with friends.
2011
engagements in NYC and Albany. Peter writes, “I don’t know what was more fulfilling, performing on a New York stage for the first time or seeing the horrified and confused expressions on the faces of the children in the audience!” After seriously considering a career path in music,
and then (briefly) in dance, SEBAStiAN goLD decided just in time for college applications that it would be neither. He is delighted to be studying at Princeton University, probably majoring in molecular biology or ecology and evolutionary biology with a minor in dance, computer science,
"nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little." —edmund Burke Participation matters. make your gift to the Annual fund at giving.walnuthillarts.org
3 4 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 34
NiCoLE DougLAS and kAtE MAxtED ’10 are both dancing with the Colorado Ballet’s 2nd Company. MorgAN BothWELL recently performed a role in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, one of the few first-year students to be cast in the Millikin University opera. kEViN hoNg is doing work for the Harvard Advocate, the university’s undergrad literary journal. He is on the poetry board, as well as a member of Pegasus, which plans events for the publication. ChELSEA D e SiLVA is studying songwriting at Berklee College of Music, where she started the Berklee Korean Student Association. Congratulations to LANE SurAN, who recently performed a piece by John Cage during a recital in Jordan Hall. Lane is currently studying piano at New England Conservatory. LAurA SkoLD is finding early success at University of Utah. She has been asked
to perform in recitals—a request not common for new students! ANgELA D’AMiCo has been doing very well at Wagner College. She earned a 4.0 GPA her first semester and was on the Dean’s List. She is the recipient of the Founders Scholarship (a four-year scholarship based on academic merit) and is in their Honors Program. She is dual-majoring in theater and education. This fall, she was cast in Dark Mondays, a production written and directed by students, and she has just been cast in The Vagina Monologues. She is a member of the Wagner Treble Choir and Hildegarde Ensemble.
Faculty & Staff
rogEr ShoEMAkEr writes, "I found retirement really boring, and I have wormed my way into the local regional public high school (Dennis-Yarmouth) here on Cape Cod. At first I substituted, but then got to be Drama Director, as theater was pretty moribund. I did an after-school workshop, then directed All in the Timing, props courtesy of Walnut Hill’s MikE MiCuCCi, and then Oliver! A very challenging environment for theater, for sure, but it is fun to be working on building a program again. I even passed the requisite tests and am certified to teach theater in Massachusetts. They have agreed to add one theater class back to the curriculum. Maybe we can get theater into this school culture! I always like to hear from Walnut Hill folks and still have this email: rshoemaker@ walnuthillarts.org. www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
In Memoriam
We fondly remember the following members of the Walnut Hill community. rhoDA ShAW CLArk ’30 died peacefully on August 7, 2011, at her home in New Boston, NH, at age 99. Rhoda was a strong hiker and skier, as well as an expert at fencing. She studied sculpture at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. She married John McLane Clark of New Canaan, CT, in 1936. Over the next 14 years, including the four years of World War II, she raised their five children, mostly in New Boston and later in Claremont, since John was overseas in the OSS or in South America. Following his death in 1950, she assumed his role as publisher of the Claremont Daily Eagle while raising her children as a single parent. She served on several committees at the state level promoting education for the developmentally disabled. She was active in town affairs, serving as chair of the planning board when two-acre zoning was voted in—one of the first towns in the state to do so. Rhoda was a friend to Walnut Hill School and enjoyed visits from various staff members over the past decade. She is survived by four children, seven grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. EiLEEN MCkELLAr BEttS ’35 passed away at Rockingham Nursing Home in Brentwood, NH, on July 20, 2011, at age 94. After graduating from Walnut Hill, Eileen attended the Amy Sacker School of Design in
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 35
Boston. She enjoyed interests in floral arranging, art, and interior design. Predeceased by her husband, Gilbert M. Betts, she is survived by one son and five nieces and nephews. EDith “EDiE” PA PAttoN CrANShAW ’37, formerly of Wellesley, MA, died peacefully in her sleep on October 7, 2011, in Exeter, NH, at age 92. She grad– uated from Connecticut College in 1941 and was married in 1943 to John A. Cranshaw, her husband of 36 years before his death in 1978. When her children were in their teens and had gone away to school, Edie enrolled at Boston University, where she earned her M.S.W. degree, graduating in 1969. As a person committed to reaching out to others by offering encouragement and support, she touched many lives. She worked in the underserved communities of Boston as a social worker for several decades, walked with Martin Luther King, and was a deacon of the Wellesley Congregational Church. She also helped establish a partnership with AME Baptist Church in Roxbury, MA, resulting in her being honored in January 2005 as a “Dream Builder” in memory of Martin Luther King. Her life was devoted to tearing down barriers between people, whether those barriers were the result of race, gender, religious beliefs, or economic status. Edie is survived by her son, Douglas, and his wife, Anne, of Cape Elizabeth, ME; her daughter, Elizabeth (Lee), and her husband, Dr. Michael Rowan,
of West Newbury, MA; and four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. MArY “Boo” JAMiSoN MArY guStAFSoN guSt AFSoN ’38 passed away peacefully at Chandler House in Yakima, WA, on September 4, 2011, at age 91. Boo was a graduate of the University of New Mexico and studied nursing at Yale University. She worked for the National Institute of Health and traveled to Costa Rica during World War II, where she met and married her husband, Jack R. “Gus” Gustafson. They enjoyed an incredible and inspiring 55-year marriage. An active member of the Yakima community, Boo was instrumental in starting the Child Health Clinic for the Southeast Community Center to provide basic medical services to the children of migrant farm workers and served as the Community Relations Officer for the City of Yakima. She was involved with the Capitol Theatre, Warehouse Theatre, League of Women Voters, Junior Programs, Yakima County Medical Auxiliary, the Yakima Greenway, Yakima Community College, St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, and many other community organizations. She is survived by five children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. ANNE ruPrECht r uPrECht ErWiN Er WiN ’40 died on January 2, 2012, in Falmouth, ME, at age 89. She received her B.A. from Vassar College in 1944 and earned a master’s degree in personnel administration from Teachers College, Columbia University, in
1947. She studied music at the Juilliard School in New York. Her talent and interest in music and the arts in general led to her volunteering with the Portsmouth, NH, Community Concert Association, of which she was a director; the Maine State Commission on the Arts and Humanities; and the National Committee on Art Advocacy of the American Council of the Arts. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, her husband, James, began his political career, twice becoming the Republican candidate for Maine’s governor and serving as Maine’s attorney general from 1967 to 1972. In addition to traveling widely throughout Maine with her husband and supporting his political work, Anne became a consultant to Berwick Academy and Waynflete School in public relations and development, and was then named director of music in Maine, an artists-in-schools program administered by the Maine Arts Commission. In 1976, Anne earned her real estate broker’s license and completed the Graduate Realtor Institute (GRI) course in 1978. In 1980, she founded Anne Erwin Real Estate in York, which she led until her retirement in 1989. Under her direction, the company was one of the first to join newly founded Sotheby’s International Realty network, which specializes in distinctive and historic properties. In recent years, she was a member of St. George’s Episcopal Church, York Harbor, where she served on the altar guild. Anne is survived by her
Behind Stowe | 35
6/7/12 11:04 AM
four children, seven grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. PriSCiLLA g. CoBB ’41 passed away on March 5, 2012, in Wayland, MA. A former chemistry teacher at Walnut Hill School, Priscilla remained a good friend of the School and visited often. She attended Connecticut College and then pursued her interest in the physical sciences as a clinical lab technician and medical research assistant at Cornell University Medical College in New York, at Nassau Community Hospital on Long Island, and at the New York College of Medicine. From 1949 to 1951, she worked at the University of Minnesota. After moving to Boston in 1953, she worked as a research assistant at Tufts University Medical School, and as a medical technician at Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. From 1955 to 1966, she taught chemistry at Walnut Hill School. In 1966, she earned a master’s degree in chemistry from Simmons College. Priscilla is survived by two cousins, two nephews, three nieces, her sister-in-law, and 14 grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews. She is remembered by Walnut Hill Trustees and former faculty and staff. Walnut Hill was honored that the family directed gifts in Priscilla’s memory to the School. ELiZABEth DAViDSoN DAViDSoN thoMPSoN ’42 of Tryon, NC, died on March 6, 2011, at Laurel Woods in Columbus, at age 86. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1946. She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Hiram
3 6 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 36
H. Thompson Jr.; son John M. Thompson and wife Susan of Tryon; son Edward W. Thompson and wife Martha of Corning, NY; daughter Margaret R. Thompson of Tryon; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; a brother; nieces, nephews, and cousins; and many close friends. She was predeceased by her daughter Ann M. Thompson of Chapel Hill in 1999. grEtChEN SChNArE tAYLor ’58 died on June 8, 2011, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH, of complications of pulmonary disease with which she had been afflicted for several years. She was age 70. Gretchen grew up in Framingham, MA, and after attending Walnut Hill, she graduated from the University of New Hampshire as the first woman to earn a degree in economics. In 1963, she married Stephen H. Taylor, a college classmate, and they lived in the Portsmouth, NH, area, where she worked in the banking industry, before moving to Meriden, where they resided for the past 46 years. In 1970, she and her husband founded Taylor Farm, which continues today as a family-run commercial dairy, cheesemaking, and maple enterprise. In 1971, she and four friends founded the Plainfield Cooperative Preschool, which for 15 years provided kindergarten for children of the PlainfieldMeriden-Cornish area before the communities established public kindergartens. In 1982, she and her husband started publication of PlainFacts, the monthly
community newsletter for Plainfield and Meriden, and she served 17 years as treasurer of the Meriden Village Water District. In addition to her husband, she is survived by three sons, seven grandchildren, a sister, cousins, nieces, and a nephew. SuSAN SWEEt LoMBArD ’61 passed away in a car accident on Martha’s Vineyard on March 27, 2012, at age 69. Born in Providence, RI, Susan grew up in Attleboro, MA, and attended local schools. After Walnut Hill, she attended ColbySawyer College. She traveled around the world through a program with Chapman College called the University of the Seven Seas in the fall of 1963. After college, she worked for a number of years at Harvard University’s Widener Library and later as an assistant at the University Marshall’s Office. She moved to New York, where she worked for the National Audubon Society. During her 25 years in Sarasota, FL, she volunteered for many community activities and was a trustee for her children’s school. She was also very active in her New Hampshire community, serving as a vestry member of the Church of the Epiphany in Lisbon as well as lay reader and treasurer, as a board member of the North Country Home Health & Hospice Agency, and as a volunteer for the North Country Chamber Players. Susan attended her 50th Reunion at Walnut Hill in June 2011. She immersed herself in the event and reconnected with friends she had not seen since
graduation. Susan is survived by two children, Laurence M. Lombard II of New York, and Hillary S. Lombard of Brooklyn, NY; and by two sisters, Margo Sweet ’63 of Waltham, MA, and Seth Sweet of Westwood, MA. LouiSE hALL tAYLor P’62, ’64 passed away on January 24, 2012, in Leesburg, FL, at age 93. She was the parent of Walnut Hill alumna Jane TaylorWydra ’64, who passed away in 1998, and Elizabeth Taylor-Huey ’62. After Jane’s passing, the family set up a scholarship in her name. The scholarship is given to a deserving visual art student. Louise was born in Florida, and had moved to Leesburg in 1995 from Yarmouthport. She was of the Protestant faith, a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Framingham, and an avid bridge player. She had worked as a kindergarten teacher at the Little Folk Farm School in Framingham and was on staff at the Riverview School in Sandwich. Louise is survived by three sons, two daughters, a brother, a sister, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Walnut Hill thanks the family for directing gifts in memory of Louise to the Jane Byron Taylor-Wydra ’64 Scholarship Fund.
OPPOSitE PAgE Photos clockwise from top left: Liza Voll, Kevin Anderson, Molly Clark
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:04 AM
In 2011–2012, the walnut Hill Parents’ Association, working with the Development and Admission Offices, hosted a number of highly successful on-campus events for Alumni, Parents, and Prospective Students. New Works Dessert Reception May 24 Walnut Hill Parents’ Association Wine Tasting April 28 Cinderella Talk-Back and Reception April 1 Black on White Reception March 24 The Cripple of Inishmaan Fireside Chat February 25 Visual Art Show Show and Mural Project Tour January 20 Nutcracker Talk-Back and Reception December 11 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Dancers in flight at Nutcracker; Erika Anderson ’12 as Cinderella; visitors talking with Jillian Kohl, Director of Alumni Relations; visitors to the Winter VIsual Art Show
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 37
Behind Stowe | 37
6/7/12 11:04 AM
The Music Department has hosted a number of world-renowned musicians during the 2011–2012 school year. Juilliard faculty member and acclaimed flutist Carol Wincenc visited campus to conduct a master class. Nicholas Kitchen, the first violinist of the Borromeo String Quartet in residence at New England Conservatory, worked with violinists and chamber music ensembles. Bruce Brubaker, chair of the Piano Department at NEC, shared his expertise with Walnut Hill pianists. Sarah Whitney ’10 visited the Visual Art studios to present to students about her work with the nonprofit Every Person Has a Story. EPHAS brings underserved communities the power to tell their stories through photography and to share it with the world through the Internet. Ballet students enjoyed a fast-paced master class with Adam Schnell ’99, who most recently toured with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Our Theater students had the pleasure of having master classes with Carnegie Mellon acting professor Kaf Warman, as well as Brent Wagner, head of Musical Theatre at the University of Michigan.
mary mitchell Campbell, Artists Striving to end Poverty Acclaimed Broadway music director Mary Mitchell Campbell visited campus not only to offer a master class to musical theater students, but also to talk to our young artists about the importance of looking outside of themselves to help others. Campbell is one of the most indemand musical theater artists in
New York theater today. She won a 2006–2007 Drama Desk Award for her orchestration of the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, for which she also served as music director. Ms. Campbell has performed at the White House, Carnegie Hall, and the Metropolitan Opera. Since moving to New York in 1996, Campbell has worked on New York
productions of Next to Normal, Company, Sweeney Todd, Beauty and the Beast, and The Addams Family, among many others. Campbell also holds the distinction of being one of the youngest individuals ever to serve on the faculty at the Juilliard School. She is the founder and chair of Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP), an international organization that seeks to empower young children through artistic self-expression. Walnut Hill has the only high school ASTEP chapter in the country, and Campbell spoke to the club members about the vision of organization and how Walnuts can contribute to the nonprofit’s success. “I feel like there’s really a solid shift with people taking hold of the idea that art can change the world,” said Campbell. “I always believed it, but I’ve seen it so much now I really believe it. There’s something sacred about the space created when artists create together. Walls come down.”
3 8 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 38
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:05 AM
BOTTOM LEFT Jake Evans ’12, Mary Mitchell Campbell, and Renee Richards ’12 on campus TOP CENTER Adam Schnell ’99 giving a ballet master class TOP RIGHT Carol Wincenc conducting a music master class
Joshua Holden ’01: Viewing Acting through a Different Lens Joshua Holden returned to Walnut Hill to speak to theater students about the acting experience he has gained since graduation. We had a chance to speak with him in the middle of his Boston stop for the touring production of Peter Pan 360°.
he arrived at college with a wealth of theater experiences that most young actors aren’t privy to. He continued his studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts (CCPA) and studied musical theater but soon switched his major to theater performance.
While a student at Walnut Hill, Holden could never have imagined where his theater journey would take him after college. When he arrived at Walnut Hill School as a junior, he had aspirations to be in choruses on Broadway; he had focused on musicals and would have been happy to continue on that path, until he was exposed to classes here that introduced him to all aspects of acting. With mentorship from Director of Theater Joe Cabral and the theater faculty, he broadened his perspective of acting and is certain
He jumped feet first into finding unique ways of using acting in other art forms when he auditioned for master puppeteer Blair Thomas, for a role in Thomas’s adaptation of The Selfish Giant by Oscar Wilde. Holden was given the job and apprenticed with Thomas, learning the ins and outs of what it takes to be a puppeteer.
Photos by Molly Clark
Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 39
Holden decided to move to New York and attempted to break into the city’s theater scene. He fell back on his puppeteer training and auditioned for the wildly successful Avenue Q. On his 25th birthday he found out he booked the national tour. Through this tour, he began to settle into his acting identity
as a puppeteer and gained confidence and a new appreciation for the art. “I can now pick up any inanimate object and I know exactly what steps to take as an actor to bring life to it,” said Holden. Since March of 2011, Holden has been touring with Peter Pan 360° as the production’s master puppeteer. “If you would have told me five years ago that I was going to be a lead puppeteer in any production, I would have laughed; but now I can solidly say I am a puppeteer. I received so much respect from the Peter Pan 360° cast coming into this show. It’s been such a gratifying experience,” said Holden.
READ MORE ONLINE
➡
Please visit holden.walnuthillarts.org to read more about Joshua Holden’s touring with Peter Pan 360º.
Behind Stowe | 39
6/7/12 11:05 AM
Walnut Hill has always been committed to enrolling a diverse and talented student population. We know that educating the artists and leaders of tomorrow requires significant commitment of resources, both for the families who enroll and for the School itself. We allocate approximately $3 million in tuition assistance each year and awarded financial aid to 46 percent of students (average award of $22,300) in the 2011–2012 school year. Walnut Hill does not yet have a significant endowment to support our deep commitment to financial aid. We rely on the generosity of donors to help build our scholarship program and make it possible for a wide range of young artists to experience Walnut Hill. Chief Marketing Officer Michele Levy chatted with two of those generous and thoughtful donors to understand their point of view on Walnut Hill, and on why they give. Beloved longtime Trustee Francis Oakes Hunnewell (1938–2010) was one of Walnut Hill’s most ardent and articulate supporters. As treasurer of the Board, he understood the School’s finances perhaps better than anyone. To secure Walnut Hill’s future, he established a scholarship endowment in 2008 and left a bequest to build the Hunnewell Scholarship even further. His wife, Elizabeth, and son, Oakes, are also passionate about the School and raised significant additional gifts from friends and family to honor Frank’s legacy of service. The Francis Oakes Hunnewell Scholarship Endowment is now one of Walnut Hill’s largest endowed funds. We are grateful for their commitment.
:
ML Your family has been very involved with Walnut Hill for quite some time now. But none of you attended the School. How did you become involved?
ML:
EH: We originally became involved through my late husband, Frank. He came to know Walnut Hill through his work with New England Conservatory. Once he got to know the School, he was completely besotted and inspired. Ultimately, he became one of the School’s biggest advocates, bringing people onto the Board, and spreading the word however he could.
OH: It was really a natural match, given our family’s
Oakes, you have joined the Board of Trustees for Walnut Hill. What prompted you to take on that commitment?
history with the School and my own work [as an educational consultant]. Being a Board member at Walnut Hill is really fulfilling . . . it’s about what you can contribute financially as well as intellectually, especially at this time in the evolution of the School.
ML: As you know, the School recently completed its new Strategic Plan. In the context of that plan, what do you find most exciting about the Walnut Hill of today?
OH:
The arts programs have always been fantastic, and it’s exciting to see how the School’s reputation for rigorous academics has grown as well.
EH: As far as I’m concerned, Walnut Hill can now compete academically with any independent school out there. On top of that, the arts programs (including the summer programs) are really just amazing. ML: There are many ways to give to a school like Walnut Hill. Why do you think it’s important to support programs like the Francis Oakes Hunnewell Scholarship Fund? EH: Frank was committed to helping these young artists. It’s so easy to become a passionate supporter of Walnut Hill. You become involved, you attend one of the high-quality performances, you get to know people . . . soon you are a fan. For example, last year I brought friends to 42nd Street, and they were hooked! "Why go to New York," they said, "when you can come to Walnut Hill?" When someone new to Walnut Hill attends a voice recital, a ballet performance, a classical music concert, or readings by the creative 4 0 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 40
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:05 AM
writing students, they can’t help but become passionate about the School. As a family, if there’s an extracurricular activity we are all devoted to, it’s Walnut Hill. We know that our financial support can really make a difference for the School, and for the young artists who benefit from the Hunnewell Scholarship.
ML:
Clearly, you are both invested in the School. What’s your vision for Walnut Hill?
OH: I want to continue to increase the visibility of the School, so that more young artists know about it. And I want to see a Walnut Hill that is less tuition-driven, in order to support a more stable financial model and to ensure that those talented young artists can experience the School, regardless of their ability to pay.
{
It’s so easy to become a passionate supporter of Walnut Hill. You become involved, you attend one of the high-quality performances, you get to know people . . . soon you are a fan!
{
ML: Over the years, you have encouraged many
Ashley Robillard ’13 is one of the students benefiting from the Francis Oakes Hunnewell Scholarship Fund. Ashley, a native of Norton, Massachusetts, dreamed of attending Walnut Hill since the fourth grade. A voice major, Ashley most recently played the role of the Fairy Godmother in the highly successful spring opera, Cinderella. She is also a Leadership student on campus, playing a crucial role supporting the Admission Office as a leader of WHAG (Walnut Hill Admission Guides). She recently reflected on her experience at Walnut Hill and what scholarship support has meant to her.
others to support Walnut Hill. What would you say to readers of Behind Stowe . . . why should they give?
“I have wanted to attend Walnut Hill since I was in grammar
EH: The night I attended the opera Cinderella, I
school. When the time finally came, I was accepted and was
asked the woman sitting next to me if her child would be performing. "No," she said. "My son is in his first year at Walnut Hill as a visual art major. He is so happy at the school because of the instruction he receives, and because at last he is with classmates who ’get him,’ and who are just as passionate about their work as he is." She said she went to every performance in every field because she loved the School so much. People give to Walnut Hill because there is a passion there. It’s really easy to see and engage with that passion. Clearly, these are students who have chosen Walnut Hill as a place where they can pursue their own passion for the arts. Supporting a scholarship directly helps them do so, especially if their own family circumstances would not have allowed them to do so otherwise. In my opinion, it’s really quite different from giving to a lot of other types of organizations, and our family values the impact we can make on both the School and the students.
just thrilled! My excitement was quickly tempered, however, by the financial realities . . . my family simply could not afford to send me to Walnut Hill. I spent an entire summer thinking that I could not attend the School, but then got the call that completely and utterly changed everything . . . I had received enough scholarship money to enable me to attend Walnut Hill! Sometimes I’m surprised that I’m here, that this is my reality. Walnut Hill is truly a place that changes people’s lives. I could not receive the training I am receiving here anywhere else. I’m also constantly amazed that there are people like the Hunnewell family who give so generously to the School. It is astounding to me that they are willing to support the arts, young artists, and this nurturing little place we have here at Walnut Hill.”
OPPOSITE PAGE Oakes and Elizabeth Hunnewell at her home in
Wellesley, MA TOP RIGHT Ashley Robillard ’13, voice major Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 41
Photos by Reena Bammi
Behind Stowe | 41
6/7/12 11:05 AM
Judith Hoag '81 returns as Commencement Speaker celebrated my exit from this campus. And though my relationship with the rules of this institution may have been slippery, my relationship with the Theater Department was rock solid. I was an enthusiastic, passionate, and dedicated theater major, never missing a class, a rehearsal, or a performance.
I
W
hen I was 14, I picked up the phone and called the Walnut Hill Admission Office. Mr. McGowen, the Director of Admissions, took my call right away. He answered all of my questions about the Theater Department and then patiently walked me through the entire admissions process. “The next step,” he said, “is to have you and your daughter come to the School so we can interview her and have her tested. Then she can meet with Mark Lindberg, the Head of the Theater Department.” “Oh,” I replied. “This is for me, I want to come to Walnut Hill. I’m the actress.” There was silence and then Mr. McGowen asked: “Can you put your mother on the phone, please?” “Absolutely, as soon as soon she gets home from work,” I said. The thrill I experienced walking onto the campus for the first time was indescribable. These were my people and this was my home. I just didn’t think there’d be so much homework. Or so many rules. “Oh, come on! Is that a rule too?” I’d wail as I tried to wiggle my way out of my latest entanglement with the administration. If my classmates were here today, they would no doubt be having a very good chuckle seeing that I’m the one standing up here. I also have little doubt that there were probably a few faculty members who quietly
4 2 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 42
’m a Walnut Hill student who left this school absolutely committed to the idea of becoming an actress, and then became one. I believe that’s why Antonio asked me to speak with you today—it certainly wasn’t because I was a model student—it’s because I know firsthand the utter joys and unbelievable perils one faces in pursuing their dreams. For the last 26 years, I have been (mostly) steadily employed doing what I love—acting. But my career looks nothing like I imagined it would. There would be a lot more films, a lot less commercials, and what’s with all the television? I was supposed to be a Broadway Star. And by now I should’ve have won a Tony and an Oscar. And yet, I’ve not only survived, I’ve thrived. It’s been euphoric, thrilling, unbelievably challenging, and completely heartbreaking. It’s raised me to heady heights and slammed me right onto my knees. I’ve seen the most talented actors fall by the wayside because they just couldn’t take it anymore. Yet, amazingly, there’s not a lot I would change about my life. But if I could go back and change anything, I would have been kinder with myself and more compassionate, particularly at my lowest moments. So many well-intentioned relatives, friends, and even strangers tried to warn me: becoming an actress is too hard. Some even ridiculed me, which of course, I took as a dare. “The cards are stacked against you. The competition is fierce and the business is ruthless. Breaking in is impossible. Statistically your chances are one in a million. They’ll break your heart.” I could’ve chosen an easier profession, one that didn’t whip me around like a carnival ride or make me judge and doubt myself incessantly. A predictable job where I could plan a vacation that I could actually go on. Here’s a little tip: if you want to book an acting job, plan a vacation. The more elaborate the vacation, the better the job. Want to book a series? Plan a trip to Europe. Honestly, I don’t know month-to-month what I’ll be doing or how it’s going to all work out, or how much money I’m going to make, because it changes every year. I probably would’ve had a more “secure” life if I had listened to them. But I wouldn’t have lived the life I was www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:05 AM
meant to live. The one that’s taught me that I’m stronger, wiser, more courageous, more creative, more resilient, and more blessed than I ever dreamed possible.
A
ccording to the Screen Actors Guild, I am among the 3 percent of its members who earn enough to actually make a living. I have been told that I’m too old, too young, not pretty enough, too pretty, not well known enough, not edgy enough, not interesting enough, too interesting, or just not right for the part. Did you know that an actress begins to see her career decline around 30 and by 40 it’s all over? I am over 40 (although I reserve the right to say how much over 40) and I’m experiencing an amazing trajectory in my career. But that’s impossible, right? Nope. Not if you’ve never followed the rules to begin with. Ah, here we are returning to the rules once again. You are the designer and the architect of your life. You carve out your own path. Don’t shortchange yourself by walking someone else’s. Life can be sweet and delicious, and life can be exacting and unfair. It will not always go the way you want, so choose carefully what meaning you’re going to attach to it. It’s been said: “Things turn out best for the people who make the best out of the way things turn out.” If there’s one secret weapon that I can give you to help you survive your life as an artist—or whatever you decide to become—it’s this: You must have a positive
point of view. And you have to work it, like a muscle, every single day for the rest of your life. It doesn’t just happen, you have to make it happen. You have to be willing to pay more attention to the one thing that’s going right, instead of the 10 things that are going wrong. Not just in your career but in your whole life, because your work and your life are thoroughly entwined. Joseph Campbell said, “Find a place inside where there’s joy and the joy will burn out the pain.” Spring & Summer 2012
30016txt.indd 43
Let the challenges in your life empower you, not disempower you. But what does that mean? Let’s say there’s a job that you’re perfect for, you’ve thrown yourself into learning your music, practicing the dance, writing the words, and you know it’s yours—it’s your destiny. But you don’t get it and you’re absolutely crushed. This was the one thing that was going to change everything! So now what? How are you going to interpret this? And how are you going to live with it? Are you going to ridicule your efforts as not good enough, never good enough? Decide it’s too hard and quit? Blame yourself for blowing it? Blame someone else? If you stick around long enough, you will most definitely blow major opportunities. And you’ll probably get fired. I did. Five times. Or, will you be kind to yourself and acknowledge the effort and the work you did put in? There’s a potential victory in just that. Search for the one thing that you can feel good about even if that one thing is that you had the courage to try and fail. Because then it is no mere failure, but rather the grace of your heart showing you the depths of your courage. Make friends with your failures. Search for the gifts that they seek to bring you. It’s the kindness you give to yourself at the edge of the abyss that will be your salvation as an artist. Your tenderness with yourself and your creativity will time and time again save your life. It’s possible there’s a victory in the fact you even had an opportunity to blow. And trust me, later on you’ll dine out on some of your most horrific experiences. War stories, I call them. One of my personal favorites is the time I was shooting a pilot, the one I didn’t want to shoot because I’d been offered a better one. But they threatened to sue both me and the other production if I didn’t do theirs. Their offer had come in first and we had a verbal agreement. It was a disaster. Four days into the shoot my agent called to tell me that they’d decided to replace me. They were going to try to recast it over the weekend. However, if they were unable to find a suitable replacement, I had to be ready to go back to work on Monday morning. They’d let me know by Sunday night. Or the time I got fired because the actor playing my husband had a major meltdown on the set, and they were firing him. They decided to fire me too because “we had such good chemistry”—that’s a direct quote. As painful as it may be, sometimes you just have to laugh. Laugh until the tears roll down your face. Or have a good cry, feel bad, and then let it go and move on. It never promised to love you back. In both cases I can tell you those jobs weren’t right for me. Those weren’t my people and it’s just possible that I was being done a favor. I found out I was pregcontinued on page 45 Behind Stowe | 43
6/7/12 11:05 AM
We congratulate the Class of 2012 and wish them well in their first year at their respective colleges and conservatories: Bard College Berklee College of Music Boston Conservatory Boston University Butler University California Institute of the Arts CAP21 Performing Arts Conservatory Carnegie Mellon University Cleveland Institute of Music Connecticut College Curtis Institute of Music Dean College Eastman School of Music/ University of Rochester Elon University Emerson College Fordham University/ Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Franklin Pierce University George Washington University Georgetown University Hampshire College Harvard University
Hope College Indiana University Manhattan School of Music Mannes College The New School for Music McGill University Middlesex University Muhlenberg College New England Conservatory New York University Oberlin College and Conservatory Pace University Pacific Northwest Ballet Parsons The New School for Design Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University Portland Ballet Trainee Program Purchase College, SUNY Rhode Island School of Design Rice University Roosevelt University Royal Academy of Music Royal College of Music
Royal Conservatory of Music Royal Northern College of Music Salem State University Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Art Institute of Chicago School of Visual Arts Seton Hall University Shenandoah University Smith College Stetson University The Colburn School The Hartt School University of Cincinnati— College-Conservatory of Music University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign University of Michigan University of Oklahoma University of Southern California University of Texas at Austin Wagner College
Photo by Betsy Blazar, Opposite page: Reena Bammi
4 4 | Behind Stowe
30016txt.indd 44
www.walnuthillarts.org
6/7/12 11:05 AM
Behind Stowe WALNUT HILL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
Spring & Summer 2012
It’s the little things
Volume 2 Number 1
Each gift makes a difference at Walnut Hill Support the Walnut Hill Annual Fund. Give online at giving.walnuthillarts.org or return the enclosed envelope.
on tHe Cover Yuyuan Market, Shanghai, China (Photo by Head of School Antonio Viva)
4 Marketing CoMMuniCations oFFiCe Michele Levy Chief Marketing Officer Betsy Blazar Molly Clark Marketing Communications Managers DeveLopMent oFFiCe Bruce smith Chief Development Officer Jennifer tumsuden Director of Annual Giving Jillian kohl Director of Alumni Relations paul Fleming Database Manager eDitoriaL teaM Judy kiviat Editorial Assistant Betsy Blazar DeFrancis Carbone Design
feAture
continued from page 43
Oh, the Places We’ve Been!
nant just after I was fired, er, replaced. I couldn’t have done that series anyway. Plus they fired the next two actresses. It wasn’t me, or the other actresses. It was the material—it was awful. Meryl Streep couldn’t have made that mess work. You’ll be rejected, disappointed, crushed, bruised, blamed, and most likely, blown out of the water. And that is Life working its magic on you. That’s life showing you what you’re made of. Being an artist isn’t for the faint of heart: otherwise everybody would do it. Your attitude is everything. It can support you or destroy you. So be kind to yourself. Think well of yourself. Be bold and go for it. It’s trial and error. It’s slapping the paint onto the canvas or the words onto the page and making bad art. Sometimes you have to be fearless enough to make bad art before you can make good art. Likewise sometimes you have to find out who you aren’t in order to find out who you are. You have been given the extraordinary gift of an arts education, an education millions upon millions of peo-
1
12
30
A nOte frOm stOWe
APPlAuse
PersPectIVe
8
17
In tHeIr OWn WOrDs
AlumnI JOurneYs
Q&A with Walnut Hill’s Director of College Counseling
20
38
Madi Vest ’13 and Daniel Salas ’12 Describe Transformative Experiences off the Hill
10 2012 strAtegIc PlAn
11 InterVIeW
A Conversation with Trustee Emeritus Wendy Wheeler
AlumnI WeeKenD
seen On tHe HIll
A YeAr In reVIeW
Visiting Artists and Master Classes
A Look Back at a Year of Making Art
40
22
26
A PAssIOn fOr gIVIng
clAss nOtes
© 2012 Walnut Hill School for the Arts. All rights reserved. Published by Walnut Hill School for the Arts, 12 Highland Street, Natick, MA 01760-2199 (tel) 508.653.4312 (fax) 508.653.9593 | Please send change of address to Paul Fleming: pfleming@walnuthillarts.org
www.youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool | www.facebook.com/walnuthill | www.walnuthillarts.org | 508.653.4312
30016cvr.indd 2
Spring & Summer 2012
ple on this planet can only dream of. Your education is the foundation from which your work will grow. Keep learning and stay curious! There are legions ahead of you who couldn’t make a go of it because they weren’t willing to be disciplined, determined, and relentlessly persistent. There’s a place for you out there, whether you become a poet, painter, or singer. Even if you don’t have a clue what you want to be when you grow up. Inside of you lives your purpose, your talent, your gifts. The world needs your gifts and don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise. Many believe art and creativity originate in the mind, but I believe they are birthed from the heart, the well from which your creativity is drawn. You are the vessel for its expression. Live and create from your heart. And in those moments when it feels like your dreams are unattainable, remember this: If the mountain was smooth, you couldn’t climb it. Good luck out there.
Behind Stowe | 4 5
6/5/12 12:52 PM
Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage
PAID
Natick, MA Permit #23
Behind Stowe WALNUT HILL SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS
Spring & Summer 2012
Volume 2 Number 1
Oh, the Places We’ve Been! Engaging with alumni, families, and partners worldwide Walnut Hill has always had a rich tradition in the arts, as evidenced by this representative sample of covers of The Blue Pencil from 1937, 1962, and 2012. Another tradition that has stood the test of time! TH
EB
LUE
TH E AT MAg wA A LN zINE UT HIL of TH Ls CH E CrE oo L f ATIvE or TH wrIT E A INg rT s Pr o
PEN
CIL
| 20 gr
12
AM
www.youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool www .youtube.com/user/walnuthillschool | www.facebook.com/walnuthill www.facebook.com/walnuthill | www.walnuthillarts.or www.walnuthillarts.org | 508.653.4312
30016cvr.indd 1
6/5/12 12:52 PM