Idyllwild A R T S ACA D E M Y
You dream about the life you want. You know you can make it happen someday. Now imagine a school where you can live that life, a place where you can reach the heights you’re dreaming about–now. If this is your dream, then Idyllwild Arts Academy is your dream come true. • Imagine living, working and studying in a community of people like yourself–a community powered by talent, driven by dreams, a community of students and teachers who are passionate about the arts. That is the Idyllwild Arts Academy, the only arts-based boarding school on the West Coast, and one of only three independent boarding high schools (grades 9-12) for the arts in the United States. • At Idyllwild, the arts infuse and inform all aspects of your life and learning, whether you are deep in rehearsals, immersed in a project, learning French in preparation for a trip to France or exploring advanced concepts in math. We look at the world as you do, through the eyes of an artist. That is what we mean by an “artsbased” education. • We are dreamers here, but serious ones. The work is hard. We offer you a rigorous college-preparatory education as well as world-class training and opportunities in the fine and performing arts–the possibilities are boundless.
We are dreamers here, but serious ones.
ARTS & ACADEMICS
Throughout the day, we challenge you to think critically and search deeply for connections. We are here to educate the whole you. In fact, although we divide the school day between academic courses (which begin at 8:00 and run until 1:00) and specific arts training (which varies by discipline and occupies the afternoon and, often, the evening), we make no distinction in our approach to education between you as an academic student and you as an arts major. At Idyllwild, you are simply yourself, and you will find the artist’s perspective as pervasive in your academic courses as in your arts training. In the words of one of our academic department heads, “We see artists as the prime movers of our culture, and we work hard to impart that belief to our students.” Throughout the day, we challenge you to think critically and search deeply for connections. The intellectual environment is similar to college—we encourage you to work hard and to be responsible for your choices. You’ll find your teachers supportive and eager to help you work independently. Because our academic curriculum includes the traditional sequence of English, history, math, science, foreign language and physical education courses, you will graduate ready to enter top colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. If you are an international student, our English as a Second Language (ESL) program will prepare you for higher education in the United States.
You will also be prepared to compete for admission to world-class conservatories, art schools and professional companies. Our arts program provides demanding pre-professional training in dance, music, visual art, theatre, moving pictures, and creative writing. You can major in any of these disciplines or combine your interests as an Interdisciplinary Arts major. While the curriculum varies according to discipline, the work required by each department reflects our commitment to training the whole artist. Your teachers at Idyllwild are professionals who will work closely with you to help you develop the skill, discipline and knowledge to mature as an artist. As one arts teacher remarked, “Students reach plateaus at Idyllwild, but we don’t let them stay there.� Whatever your passion, we will challenge you to work to your highest level of achievement and share with you pride in your accomplishments.
WRITING
Creative
Think of yourself here as an apprentice in the writer’s craft, striving to master the intricacies of giving voice, style and form to imagination and emotion. It is difficult, painstaking and exhilarating work. You will learn to read closely, think critically and practice disciplined revision.
C R E AT I V E W R I T I N G
In workshops you will develop the writing and language skills to explore a variety of literary genres and the vocabulary to offer intelligent, supportive feedback to your fellow writers. We will encourage your creative powers and prepare you for the demands of competitive college writing programs.
Faculty members are professional writers and teachers who will work closely with you as you hone your craft and experience the process of literary creation. Together, you can design independent study projects focused on your particular interests. Specialized literature courses, focusing on analytical skills and the study of technique, complement the writing workshops because we want you to understand the relationship between meaning and an author’s choice of narrative style, point of view, structure and characterization. Masterclasses by guest artists such as international bestselling author Brady Udall and Colorado Prize for Poets winner G.C. Waldrep provide insight into the “writing” life, while workshops with faculty and writers-in-residence allow you to study a wide variety of genres in depth, from poetry and fiction to playwriting and screenwriting. Students studying playwriting collaborate with the Theatre Department for a staged reading of their work. All students regularly give public readings, submit work to important writing contests for high school students as well as print and online journals, and apply for summer program scholarships. Other professional experiences, such as off campus events and funding opportunities, are pursued.
...from poetry and fiction to playwriting and screenwriting.
As a young dancer, you’ve been dreaming about your future. When you arrive at Idyllwild, you will find your vision enlarging to embrace new opportunities. Our job is not simply to train you as a dancer, but to help you discover your natural role in the world of professional dance. Free to focus on and experiment with dance, many of our dance majors reshape their childhood dreams.
DANCE
DANCE
Rigorously trained ballet students may blossom in jazz or modern dance. Students once intent on lives as performers sometimes discover that they were born to choreograph. Whatever direction your dream takes you, as an Idyllwild dancer, you will have the technical and artistic versatility to succeed. Our curriculum concentrates on both technical expertise and artistic expression. At the core is ballet, which provides an appreciation of beauty, the joy of movement and an awareness of the human body as a finely tuned instrument. You will prepare for the stage by working daily on the artistic aspects of theatrical dancing: style and projection, phrasing and musicality. By applying the laws of physics to the principles of classical ballet, we help you acquire healthy and efficient movement habits. You will then apply these skills to the other dance techniques you will study every week, such as modern and jazz. Through the classwork in modern dance, you will learn to use weight, gravity, space and
momentum—all natural sources for movement—as the basis for technical ability and choreographic creativity. With its emphasis on the articulation of the torso and pelvis, modern dance training will help you develop the strong and supple body necessary for a long career. Our schedule also includes classes in dance composition, anatomy, body conditioning, tap, dance history, music for dancers and dance appreciation. As part of our injury prevention program, you will be evaluated individually once a year by a kinesiology consultant, and you will learn the best ways to accelerate your progress in terms of strength and flexibility. All of our dance majors participate in the master classes offered throughout the school year by visiting guest teachers. Our proximity to Los Angeles and San Diego gives us easy access to performances by the world’s most renowned dance organizations.
Whatever direction your dream takes you... you will have the technical and artistic versatility to succeed.
ARTS
Interdisciplinary
As an Interdisciplinary Arts major at Idyllwild, collaboration and exploration
in two or more disciplines of your choosing, will be your primary approach.
INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTS
The goal of the Interdisciplinary Arts major at Idyllwild Arts Academy is the cultivation of a community of thoughtful, creative and aware artists who are versatile, accomplished and articulate. The program is designed to provide a wide variety of experiences and training in two or more disciplines of the student’s choosing. In addition to the core Interdisciplinary Arts curriculum, students’ schedules are tailored to their individual interests, encompassing intensive training in at least two areas of the arts.
Students enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Arts program study the relationships among various art forms, as well as new and traditional movements in the arts. An emphasis on critical thinking and evaluative skills is an integral part of the program.
An emphasis on critical thinking and evaluative skills is an integral part of the program. In the first year, the core curriculum provides an introduction to artistic appreciation and practice and studio habits for the less experienced artist. The processes of creation and training are studied in depth. The Interdisciplinary Arts major is a place where students can explore different disciplines, leading to choice of and commitment to one of our pre-professional majors, or continued exploration, leading to a lifelong appreciation of the arts.
PICTURES
Moving
Lights, camera, action! If you want to tell stories through
moving images, we’ll help you translate your ideas into film, video, and multimedia. In our Department of Moving Pictures you’ll hone your talent and get the solid education and technical expertise you’ll need to pursue your dream.
M OV I N G P I C T U R E S
Film schools are looking for the great visual storytellers of tomorrow, people with a distinctive voice and knowledge of literature and the humanities. Filmmaking is a collaborative endeavor, and as you develop your projects, you’ll find versatile talent all around you. In addition to screenwriting, film history, acting for the camera, and scoring, you’ll learn the practical craft of production, using cutting-edge digital equipment. You’ll use our sound stage, editing stations, and specialized software to shoot, edit, and dub your productions.
Film schools are looking for the great visual storytellers of tomorrow...
Our mountaintop campus outside of Los Angeles is ideally located to tap industry talent. You’ll work with some of the most accomplished names in the business. Recent master classes featured a designer (The Majestic) on creating storyboards, a key grip (About Schmidt) on laying dolly track, a cinematographer (Paris Is Burning) on lighting scenes, and an operator (Being John Malkovich) on handling a Steadicam. By the time you apply to leading college and university film programs, you’ll definitely have the edge.
As a musician, you will find an inspiring and encouraging haven at Idyllwild. In the solitude of a pine forest, your aspirations become realities. Our graduates are among the most serious and talented musicians of today who go on to the finest colleges and conservatories in the world.
MUSIC
MUSIC Your music curriculum will focus on performance and be supplemented by classes such as music theory and history. While nearly one third of our student body is music majors, classes remain small with great emphasis placed on personalized attention. Students attend weekly private lessons from the finest professionals in Southern California. Your studies are further enhanced with master classes and recitals by some of the world’s leading performers.
In addition to solo practice time, our instrumentalists rehearse several hours a week in chamber ensembles. Pianists study piano literature, keyboard skills and accompanying. Voice majors participate in voice performance and ensemble classes, study diction for singers and opera literature. Jazz students learn to improvise and work with combos to develop an individualized style. Guitarists can participate in classical and jazz ensembles. While some ensembles are open to all students, participation in performances of the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, one of the premier youth orchestras in the world, is by audition only. The IAAO performs regularly on campus, in and around Southern California and has given concerts in prestigious venues across the United States.
Our job is to prepare all of you for a wide range of successful professional careers in music.
THEATRE The resources to make a successful life in the theatre are already within you. Discovering, understanding, developing and, ultimately, trusting them—that will be your fundamental task as a Theatre Arts student here.
T H E AT R E Our department is Stanislavsky based, and we incorporate self-use techniques to guide you toward greater self-awareness. This is concentrated pre-professional training for serious students of theatre—the same level and intensity of training you will find in college-level conservatory theatre programs.
Theatre faculty will help you develop a program of study based on personal interest and your level of training, assessed by auditions each fall. Prior to your junior year, we encourage you to take courses in related disciplines such as music or visual art. At the start of your junior year, you will select one of three areas of concentration: acting, design, or musical theatre. Actors and musical theatre students study movement, combat, dance, voice and speech, theatre history, mask for characterization, and improvisation, as well as the required sequence of acting classes. A musical theatre concentration requires additional study of voice, music theory, dance and participation in a musical theatre repertory workshop.
This is concentrated pre-professional training for serious students of theatre...
In the design concentration, technical classes like costume and make-up design, scene painting and stage management provide vital career skills and critical insight into the many components that make up a theatrical production. Sustaining a career in the world of professional theatre requires extraordinary determination, discipline and drive. Helping you understand that reality, we believe, is the best preparation for making intelligent choices about higher education and your career.
Visualize this: art studios open and accessible throughout the day and evening, all the materials you need at your fingertips, a work space entirely your own, exposure to a variety of studio arts, and personalized attention from talented, caring teachers. This, we believe, is the environment most conducive to helping you develop your artistic instincts, and that is our primary goal.
ART
Visual
VISUAL ART
Our faculty are professionals in their fields who continue to have their own work exhibited.
Pre-professional training at Idyllwild begins with your exploration of fundamental artistic process and technique. As an entering visual art major, you will take an art survey course and eventually go on to complete one year of art history, a drawing class each year, and choose among elective courses such as painting, animation / screenprinting, computer graphics, sculpture, ceramics, new genres, digital photo and photography. In small classes your teachers will help you incorporate verbal and visual communication skills, historical perspective, fundamental theory and critical thinking into your own creative expression. Our faculty are professionals in their fields who continue to have their own work exhibited. Like you, they are passionate about art and eager to share that feeling with you as you grow and work together. Often prominent contemporary artists show their work in the Exhibition Center and give workshops in concepts and media beyond our formal curriculum. In addition, we organize trips to important art exhibits at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles galleries, the Getty, Armand Hammer Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. Your senior year at Idyllwild will be filled with preparation for college: distilling a portfolio and planning your senior show. Throughout that process we will encourage you—as we have from the start of your education here—to discover your own unique way to reaffirm the world’s need for art.
C O L L E G E A C C E P TA N C E S
The following colleges, universities and conservatories are a representative sample of this
Art Center College of Design
Oberlin College Conservatory of Music
Barnard College
Otis College of Art and Design
Berklee College of Music
Parsons School of Design
Boston Conservatory
Peabody Conservatory,
Boston University
Johns Hopkins University
California Institute of the Arts
Pratt Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Rhode Island School of Design
Chicago Art Institute
Rice University
Cleveland Institute of Music
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama
The Colburn School Conservatory of Music
San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Columbia University
Sarah Lawrence College
The Cooper Union School of Art
Savannah College of Art & Design
Cornell University
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Cornish College of the Arts
School of Visual Arts, New York
Curtis Institute of Music
Smith College
Eastman School of Music,
Stanford University
University of Rochester
State University of New York, Purchase
Fordham University
University of California, Berkeley
Hampshire College
University of California, Irvine
Hartt Conservatory, University of Hartford
University of California, Los Angeles
Juilliard School
University of Chicago
Kansas City Art Institute
University of Colorado, Boulder
Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts
University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana
Lynn University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Manhattan School of Music
University of Southern California
New England Conservatory of Music
Vassar College
New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
Western Michigan University
New York University Film School
Yale University
Our students often find themselves ahead of the competition for places in the best conservatories, art schools, and colleges.
Copy: Pam Sheff and Ann Lano, Sheff and Lano Communications
Northwestern University
Photography: Peter Howard and various
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Design: SDYM, Inc.
year’s graduates’ acceptances:
Idyllwild Arts Academy 52500 Temecula Road P.O. Box 38 Idyllwild, Ca 92549-0038 951.659.2171, extension 2223 fax: 951.659.3168 admission@idyllwildarts.org www.idyllwildarts.org