Filling a Growing Need
M
y experience at the conservatory was really groundbreaking for me. For so many years, I have been purely selftaught and was making so many rookie mistakes in my work…but with my time at the conservatory, I have grown so much. Without the conservatory, I don’t know where I would be. -Jacob Cardona, conservatory student
Conservatory Growth Being a student of the arts requires creativity, collaboration and communication. Each and every day, we are proud to offer students of every age the opportunity to grow as artists and passionate, contributing members of society. After our conservatory’s opening in January 2017, we experienced a 40% increase in enrollment in just one year. In our second semester, we tripled our number of offerings from 25 to 78 classes in music, drama, dance and technical theatre. Our exceptional faculty of master teaching artists from Boston, Providence, Hartford, New York and the surrounding area doubled in size, growing quickly from 10 to 20 professional artist-educators who provide our students with the very best in performing arts education. This fall, we are training and educating over 280 students each week, a 55% increase in just 18 months. We attribute this growth and success to our continued commitment to cultivating individual attention, igniting creativity and inspiring confidence through arts education. As we continue to expand our reach in the area, financial assistance has become even more important. In our 2017-2018 season we were pleased to provide area students in need with over $20,000 in scholarships to pursue their training in the performing arts in the heart of Worcester’s Theatre District. Ballet Arts Worcester Merger On July 1, 2017, Ballet Arts Worcester (BAW) found a new home at 551 Main Street as the dance department in our conservatory for the performing arts. BAW’s founder and artistic director, Jennifer Agbay, was hired as our director of dance after her decade-long relationship with our organization. Along with her talented faculty and students, we were proud to welcome a number of Agbay’s established programs into our conservatory. The Nutcracker In 2017, the annual production of The Nutcracker, under the artistic direction of Jennifer Agbay, became an official conservatory production and provided over 150 local dance students with the opportunity to perform in our world-class venue. Furthermore, students shared the stage with professional principle dancers from Orlando Ballet Company and, for the first time, Boston Ballet. We were thrilled to bring this production in-house and will continue to invest in it as a service to the local community for years to come. Many thanks go to the dozens of parent volunteers who help to make this production possible.
Pictured are Meghan Montaner, director of education, Troy Siebels, president and CEO and Dr. Susan O’Neil, Worcester Public Schools deputy superintendent at the Partners in Education Institute in Washington, D.C.
6 • A Decade of Cultural Transformation • TheHanoverTheatre.org
Kennedy Center Partners in Education In April 2018, The Hanover Theatre Conservatory was selected to participate in the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Partners in Education Program, a nationally recognized program designed to help arts organizations develop and expand education partnerships with local school systems. The theatre is the first venue in Massachusetts to be accepted into this prestigious program, which will assist in the expansion of The Hanover Theatre’s relationship with the Worcester Public Schools (WPS). It is rooted in the belief that supporting the professional learning of teachers is an essential component of promoting the inclusion of arts in education. The WPS deputy superintendent,
