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Arts a la Carte Department of Visual & Performing Arts December 2016—January 2017

Westfield Public Schools Westfield New Jersey

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Please see page 19 for

information on Christmas Tree

Disposal Services…..

ALL CONCERTS BEGIN AT 7:00 pm unless otherwise noted

Date Place Performance 12/5/16 RIS Bands 12/6/16 RIS Jazz Ensembles 12/7/16 Franklin Chorus 12/7/16 Washington Band & Chorus 12/8/16 WHS Orchestra 12/12/16 EIS 6th & 7th Grade Band 12/12/16 RIS 6th & 8th Grade Chorus 12/12/16 RIS 6th & 8th Grade Orchestra @ 8:00 pm 12/13/16 EIS 6th Grade Chorus, 8th Grade Orchestra & Symphony Orchestra 12/13/16 RIS 7th Grade Chorus & Sharps and Flats 12/13/16 RIS 7th Grade Orchestra & Early Morning Orchestra @ 8:00 pm 12/14/16 Jefferson Band & Chorus 12/14/16 McKinley Band & Chorus 12/14/16 Tamaques Band & Chorus 12/15/16 WHS Band 12/19/16 EIS All Elementary Intermediate Strings 12/20/16 EIS 6th & 7th Grade Orchestra & 7th Grade Chorus 12/20/16 Franklin Advanced Band 12/20/16 Wilson Band & Chorus 12/21/16 EIS 8th Grade Chorus, 8th Grade Band, Broad Singers & Jazz Band 12/22/16 WHS Chorus 1/11/17 WHS District Orchestra Night 1/12/17 WHS (Varsity Gym) District Band Night @ 7:30 pm 1/18/17 WHS District Choral Night 1/19/17 Franklin Beginner Band 1/25/17 McKinley Beginner Band 2/11/17 WHS Chorale Night of Love Songs

ALL City Auditions will be starting soon

Please contact your child’s elementary

music teacher for more information

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Arts a la Carte December 2016-January 2017

Westfield

High School Art

Sophomore, Meghan Johnson‘s artwork was chosen for this year‘s

Winter Concert program cover. The covers will be used district wide, for

all the upcoming Winter Concerts.

Congratulations Meghan!

DRAWING students are working hard learning a variety of

techniques to improve their observational drawings. They

continue to learn classical

techniques in class. They continue to develop their pentimenti and let

their investigation and thinking process show through their search

marks. They then take these new methods home to apply to subject

matter that interests them. As they

advance in the course a variety of media will be used to make pieces

more expressive and personal.

COMPOSITION students are creating complex pieces of work

incorporating a variety of historical armatures. They have been studying

notan and value dominance. They

will begin acrylic painting in class

and move quickly from value pieces

into full-color paintings.

ADVANCED PORTFOLIO & ART HISTORY (ART IV) students have

been working on self-directed pieces

in class. They are about to begin one of the art history segments of

the course. Students will learn the Visual Thinking Strategy method for

investigating works of art. They will

December 2016-January 2017 Arts a la Carte

further their knowledge of the

Formal Critical Method used to investigate and write about artworks

from a variety of time periods. They will apply previous knowledge from

last year‘s Composition class as they break down works of art.

Name plates - After a Week of

Respect, Ceramics students focused on slab construction plates

honoring the various names that they were given or that they go by.

Coil pots - Ceramics II students

are in various stages of completing their large scale coil pots. Currently

some are in the greenware state and some are bisque fired and are

waiting to be glazed.

Ceramics 1 students learned about rolling out slabs of clay and draping

the clay over a Styrofoam plate in order to create a decorative ceramic

plate. The plates were decorated

with a version of their name, nickname, monogram or initials.

Students then took this knowledge and rolled out a base for the

creation of a coil vessel. The coil

vessels will have to be 4 inches tall, hold something, and have some

type of creative coiling involved in the final project.

Students in Crafts are in the middle

of the Fibers unit. They learned how to create an original creature using

a pattern and how to hand sew

using various stiches. The next project in the Fibers Unit is

Macramé. Students who know how to make a stripe and chevron

pattern are encouraged to print up a

more difficult pattern to try. The macramé bracelet below is made up

of 24 strings. Make sure to check out the District Art Show in May to

see examples of both projects!


Having just finished a unit on

contour line, Westfield High School Foundations of Art students are

currently working on a unit focusing on value. Value is one of the

Elements of Art and refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.

Students finished up watercolor

paintings of leaves (pictured below). Apart from developing their abilities

to perceive subtle differences in value, students are taking the time

to appreciate the beauty in natural

objects that cascade down upon us this time of year. Students are

finishing up still life drawings, using a wide range of values to create the

illusion of a three-dimensional object on a flat surface. Subsequent

to this, students will create

Surrealist Intaglio prints using shading techniques such as

blending, hatching and cross-hatching, continuing to build their

skills of creating forms on a flat

surface. A sculptural unit to follow will allow students to create actual

forms using the human body as a theme.

Music

On October 26, the 8th grade boys

at the intermediate schools as well as the

boys from the WHS Men‘s Chorus attended

the Rowan Men‘s

Festival where they sang with close to 500

young men from around the state. The

day featured performances from

Rowan‘s choirs as well

as the illustrious male choral group, Cantus.

In the Choir Classes, Mixed Chorus

recently had an assessment on singing the major scale in thirds

intervals with hand signs. Additionally, the students can now

sing music, at sight, singing in

solfege (do-re-mi) without the assistance of the piano!

Students in Concert Choir and Bella

Cora have had sight singing

assessments and are preparing music for the winter concerts.

Chorale and Choraleers have been working on challenging repertoire

from the sacred to secular.


News 12 “Sounds of the

Season” The students of the WHS Chorale will be performing on News

12! News 12 has invited the Westfield Singers to perform for

their annual ―Sounds of the Season‖ choir showcase alongside 4 other

choirs in New Jersey. On December

1st, the WHS Chorale will sing at the Count Basie Theater and have their

performance taped. The choir will be performing two holiday pieces

that will be aired several times over

the holiday break.

Reading of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” with Concert

Choir; There will once again be a reading of Dickens, A Christmas Carol, performed by Dr. Peter Horn,

(Former WHS Teacher and Project 79 advisor) on December 17th at the

First Baptist Church in Westfield. The Choir will be singing in between

chapters of the heart-warming

Christmas tale. All alumni of the choir are welcome to come sing at a

favorite perennial event in the choir department!

Winter Choral Concert at Westfield High School; The

Westfield Choral Department will be holding concerts for the Westfield

community, featuring over 250 high school singers and instrumentalists!

One of the highlights of the winter concert will be the collaboration

between Concert Choir and members of the band and orchestra.

This year the students will be

performing Copland‘s Promise of Living, Berlioz‘s Shepherd‘s Chorus,

and Handel‘s Hallelujah Chorus.

There will be a short in-school ―final rehearsal‖ open to the community

on December 21st at 11:45 AM in

the WHS Theater. The Choral Concert will take place on December

22nd at 7 PM and will feature all of the WHS choral groups.

Caroling in the Halls; On

December 23rd the WHS Chorale will be spreading holiday joy as they

carol throughout the halls of WHS!

Recruitment Day, January 11th; The WHS Music department will

once again open its doors to 8th

grade singers and instrumentalists to participate in our annual 8th

grade recruitment day.

District Choral Night on January

18th; The Westfield Choir department will have its second

annual District Choral Night on January 18th at 7 PM. The event will

feature both intermediate schools, three high school groups with a

combined number of over 300

students!

WHS Concert Bands The WHS Wind Ensemble,

Symphonic Band, and Concert Band

are off to a wonderful start for the 2016/17 school year. All three

ensembles are preparing literature for their December 15th concert,

which will be held in the high school

auditorium at 7pm. In addition to traditional band literature, each

class is also working on chamber music for woodwind and brass

choirs.

On December 10th, the following

WHS band students will travel to JP Stevens High School to audition for

the CJMEA honor ensembles:

Zachary Model- Piccolo

Rachel Markowitz- Flute/Piccolo Brooke Walden- Flute/Piccolo

Nadia Matin- Flute Sara Shen- Flute

Larry Yu- Flute Valerie Chang- Oboe

Michael Hauge- Eb/Bb Clarinets

Rachel Hamelburg- Bb Clarinet Matthew Shiff- Eb Alto/Bass

Clarinets Mateo Gonzalez-Nolde- Bass Clarinet

Benjamin Mizrach- Bassoon

Allistair Kapadia- Bassoon Daniel Shenker- Alto Sax

Matthew Paden- Alto Sax Clea Demuynck- Alto/Tenor Saxes

Austin Chen- Trumpet Max Tennant- Trumpet

Dale Beyert- Trumpet

Sofia Gonzalez-Nolde- Trumpet Mark Kostyack- Euphonium/Bass

Trombone Lucy Ritter- Percussion

Andrew Kapadia- Percussion

Jack Butera- Percussion Michael Charlton-

Percussion/Timpani

We would like to wish all 25 students auditioning the best of luck as they represent the WHS band! Dale Beyert - Senior trumpet

player, pictured at the 2016 New Jersey All-State Orchestra concert

held at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on November 20th.

Congratulations to Dale Beyert who was just announced as a member of

the 2017 All-Eastern Band. Students accepted to a 2016 All-State Band

were eligible to apply and Dale was one of 24 students from the state of

New Jersey accepted to the


ensemble. The group is made up of

students from 11 states in the Northeastern Region of the US and

they will perform at the All-Eastern Conference held in Atlantic City in

April 2018. This is a huge honor for him!

WHS Jazz Bands A record number of auditionees

tried out for the WHS Jazz Bands in mid-November. Bands will begin

rehearsal in January and will

perform at regional jazz festivals throughout the winter and spring.

Don‘t miss the 5th annual Westfield Jazz Night on Saturday May 13th in

the WHS Courtyard featuring jazz bands from Roosevelt Intermediate,

Edison Intermediate and Westfield

High School.

WHS Winterguard The Westfield High School Winter

Color Guard will begin rehearsals in

December in preparation for the 2017 competitive season. The group

will rehearse through April and will perform at local and regional

competitions. We wish the

colorguard well as they perform in their first WGI (Winterguard

International) ―Super Regional‖ at Monmouth University. Contact Mr.

Vitale for more information: [email protected]

WHS Marching Band

The Marching Blue Devils enjoyed many successes this year with their

field show, ―Bach and Roll.‖ In October, they traveled to the

University of Delaware to compete in the Bands Of America Regional,

where they placed 12th out of 27

bands, just barely missing out on the finals competition. In their home

circuit of USBands, the Blue Devils competed well in two new

classifications: Group 6-A & Group

6-Open. At the State Championships, they placed 3rd in

6-A and won ―best colorguard!‖

The 2016 season continued a pattern of substantial growth in the

program (both in quantity and

quality!) and the Blue Devils are grateful for the support of the

WHOLE band family. From staff members, to administrators, to

volunteers and donors, hundreds of

people made this season the best one yet!

To keep up with all the exciting

news in the Westfield Band

program, follow online at: www.westfieldhsbands.org

WHS Bands Friends, Family, and

Alumni

whsbandsfriendsfamilyandalumni

Westfield High School Bands

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.westfieldhsbands.org/


WHS Orchestra

As we approach the winter months the WHS Orchestras have been hard

at work preparing for a number of events and performances. On

November 18th Orchestra classes were given an opportunity to a see

a performance by Angela Zhao,

winner of the 2016-2017 New Jersey Intergenerational Orchestra

Concerto Competition. Ms. Zhao performed the works of Prokofiev

and Chopin. Students were able to

observe stellar music making, as well as, ask questions and learn

about musical preparation and practice skills.

On November 19th, members of the

WHS Chamber Orchestra were able

to participate in the 1st Annual Rutgers University String Day,

hosted by the Mason Gross Extension Division. Students were

able to have a full day of musical

development. The day included a concert by the RU faculty, an

adjudicated performance, breakout sessions with RU staff, and a

concert with the combined orchestra

under the direction of Kynan Johns.

While all of this was taking place, the orchestras continue to prepare

for the upcoming Winter Concert which will take place on December

8th. The concert begins at 7pm and

will feature all 3 orchestras; the String Orchestra, WHS Philharmonic,

and the Chamber Orchestra. We are eagerly looking forward to our first

opportunity to perform. The concert

will feature works of J.S. Bach, Mozart, Wagner, Dvorak, and many

more. We look forward to seeing you all there!

Writing and Arranging

The first marking period of Writing

and Arranging is coming to an end and each class has really started

digging into the larger concepts of music theory and composition.

Writing and Arranging 2 students

have a number of projects that they have been working on, including

using professional style recording equipment and large scale

compositions. The Writing and Arranging 1 class has been hard at

work as well, expanding on some of

the fundamentals of composition and music history.

Drama

The Westfield High School drama

students are once again engaged in furthering their studies of the world

of theatre. In Intro to Theatre,

the students have just completed an investigation of Roman Theatre and

its contributions to world theatre. In addition to the historical aspects of

the period, the students also

examined the specific elements from the time period still seen in

contemporary theatre via the performance of scenes from

Rumors, a comedy by Neil Simon.

The Theatre Workshop students are continuing their exploration of

the world of Shakespeare, both tragedy and comedy. Currently, the

students are working on their scene performances from Much Ado About Nothing. In Advanced Theatre

Technique, the students are exploring the Restoration Theatre

via French playwright Moliere. This study includes a performance of

scenes from the classic Moliere work

Tartuffe. WHS students are also continuing their exploration of the

world of theatre behind the scenes in the Stagecraft course. The

students are engaged in learning the various jobs that exist in the

technical theatre and the numerous

employment opportunities they present. Currently, the students are

learning the fundamentals of Costume Design and Props Design

and their various applications within

the theatrical production process.

This unit will conclude with small

student groups reading a play and creating a costume design and prop

design for the show.

Romeo and Juliet

The Westfield High School Theatre

Department presented Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare, as

their fall production. Romeo and Juliet may be Shakespeare‘s most well-known play; the story of two

young lovers who are trapped in a society at war with itself and,

thereby dooming them and their

love. This deeply moving play featured

a beautiful, representational set,

designed by Roy Chambers, the WHS Art teacher and award winning

Scenic Designer, and was

constructed by the WHS Scenic Design club and the Stagecraft

class. The entire production, especially the performances of all of

the students, was truly amazing and provided an evening that will not

soon be forgotten by the audiences

or the students. The show was an extremely successful production

which played to full houses for all performances and ended with

standing ovations. Featuring over

110 student actors and technicians, the production clearly demonstrated

the myriad talents of the WHS fine arts students and their various


disciplines. Romeo and Juliet continued to illustrate the high level of excellence that the WHS Theatre

Department has become known for, which includes nominations for

multiple actors, directors and best overall productions from both the

Montclair State University ―Theatre

Night‖ awards and the Paper Mill Playhouse ―Rising Star‖ Awards.

With the success of last fall‘s production of The Cherry Orchard,

which won ―Outstanding Production

of a Classical Play‖, ―Outstanding Lead Actress in a Classical Play‖ for Madeline Hudelson and ―Outstanding

Supporting Actress in a Classical Play‖

for Madeliene Rosenthal. This is the third consecutive year that WHS has

garnered ―best play‖ recognition.

The students of the WHS Theatre Department have, once again,

demonstrated their passion, talent and dedication to achieving the

highest possible standards of

theatrical performance.

Roosevelt

Intermediate

Art

As the new marking period begins,

all of the 7th graders in Mrs. Cohen‘s classes are working on a

still life drawing. The 8th grade classes are working on a 3 part

plaster hand project. The first part is an interpretation of a famous

artist's work done in multimedia on

an 8 x 10 piece of matt board. Then the students will write a short

paper on the artist and piece that they chose to interpret, as well and

why they selected this piece. The final part of the project is molding

their hand and incorporating it into

their background!

The students in two of Mr. Thompson‘s 6th grade classes are

finishing up this marking period with

large crayon batik tiki designs. We began by studying the origin and

significance of tikis in Polynesian culture. We took a look at many

different examples, noting the exaggerated, simplified facial

features and fierce expressions.

Students then drew half a tiki on a folded piece of paper, transferred it

to the blank side, and then colored it with a heavy layer of crayon.

Once colored, we crumpled them up

several times to create cracks in the waxy crayon. Finally, we covered

our designs in a layer of black tempera paint, then wiped most of

it off while it was still wet. The black

paint stayed in the cracks in the crayon, creating a striking antique-

looking effect. Lastly, we cut them out and mounted them on torn

brown paper. Awesome!

The students in Mr. Thompson‘s 7th

grade classes have just completed a graffiti lesson. Following a very

interesting discussion on street art, students were challenged to design

their own ―tag‖: a highly stylized and colorful name design. After

viewing many different styles of

tags, we noted the many differences and the similar elements. Students

were able to base their tag on their own name, a nickname, or another

word of their choice. The results

were dramatic and colorful!

Music

RIS Bands

The Roosevelt concert bands are very excited to present our winter

concert on Monday, December 5th at 7pm. All three concert bands have

spent the past three months preparing a variety of challenging

repertoire. Here is a brief preview of

the evening‘s music:


The 6th grade band will open the

concert with ―The Star-Spangled Banner‖, under the direction of Mr.

Doyle. Ms. Marisa Minogue will then lead the ensemble in a beautiful and

challenging rendition of ―Dona Nobis Pacem‖. What makes this piece so

challenging is its slow tempo, and

the fact that the students get to showcase their vocal talents! The

final piece the 6th graders will perform is described as a tone

picture, telling a story through

music. The piece is based on an old Russian folk song, and it depicts an

army marching across the frozen wastelands of the north. As the

army approaches the local village, the music intensifies, culminating in

a battle scene which cannon fire can

be heard in the percussion section. Then, as quickly as the army came

in, the music begins to quiet down as the troops march off to their next

battle.

The 7th grade band will begin their

portion of the concert with Mr. Freeman leading an arrangement of

themes from Dvorak‘s ―New World

Symphony‖. Dvorak wrote this piece near the turn of the 20th century,

and used themes and motifs he had heard in native music and folksongs

from North America. Next, Ms. Minogue will lead the band in

performing the famous song ―Maria‖

from Leonard Bernstein‘s West Side Story. In the musical the song is

sung by Tony, who has fallen in love with the female lead Maria. This

musical was a modern day take on

Shakespeare‘s Romeo and Juliet, set in 1950‘s New York City. The final

piece on the program is an energetic take on the Ukrainian Bell

Carol, called ―Celtic Bell Carol‖. Composer Robert W. Smith arranges

this tune with unique percussion

instruments and rhythms to replicate the sounds of Celtic

dancers. You will hear traditional percussion instruments, but also

sandpaper blocks and students

playing on a wooden board!

The 8th grade band will close out their final winter concert at RIS with

a trio of challenging and well known tunes. They will begin by performing

―Anchors Aweigh‖. This tune was

written in 1906 and was first played at the annual Army-Navy football

game that same year. It was later adopted as the official song of the

United States Navy. Next, the band

will perform the Canadian Brass arrangement of ―Pachelbel‘s Canon‖.

This song is very popular during wedding ceremonies, and this

arrangement prominently features the brass section. The night will end

with a wonderful medley of

Hanukkah tunes called ―Hanukkah Festival of Lights‖ by Howard Rowe.

Ms. Minogue will lead the band as they perform reflective, solemn

melodies and upbeat dance

numbers.

On Tuesday, December 6th, the RIS jazz ensembles will be performing

their winter concert. The Jazz Band

and Stage Band will perform works from Duke Ellington, Miles Davis,

Vince Guaraldi, and others. They will play both jazz and holiday

standards, and students will showcase their improvisation skills.

On December 23rd, the Jazz band

will tour the elementary schools with the Early Morning Orchestra

and the Sharps and Flats as part of our annual holiday recruitment tour.

On November 14th, the 8th grade

band performed at the annual RIS Veterans‘ Day Assembly, where RIS

honors and thanks a member of our school community who has served

in the armed forces. The band played ―Anchors Aweigh‖ and

―Marching Marines‖ as students and

parents entered and exited the gym. During the ceremony, trumpet

players Ryan Richter and Matt Miller performed a stellar rendition of

―Taps‖, the solemn bugle call. Mr.

Doyle and the 8th Grade Band are always honored to be a part of such

a wonderful event.

Ryan Richter playing Taps

Vets Day Assembly

The 8th grade band will also be

participating in the WHS recruitment

day on Wednesday, January 11th. The band, chorus, and orchestra will

travel to WHS and spend an afternoon performing with their high

school counterparts. The bands will be rehearsing for an evening

performance on Thursday, the 12th,

where they will join the 8th grade concert band from EIS, the WHS

Wind Ensemble, and the WHS Marching Band for a concert in the

high school gymnasium. This is a

yearly event and is an excellent opportunity to see the wide range of


talent in the Westfield band

program. The event begins at 7 pm. Mr. Doyle, Ms. Minogue, and Mr.

Freeman would like to thank the entire Westfield community for their

continued support for our students and the arts. We wish everyone a

safe and happy holiday season!

RIS CHORUS

The RIS vocal music room has been a busy place in the first marking

period. Seventh and 8th grade

classes have been composing rhythm poem to help them better

understand note values. The projects have been very well written

and students not only learned about composing, they enjoyed the

experience. Both grade levels have

been working towards their Holiday concerts which are on December

12th and 13th. Our groups have made great progress since

September and we are expecting

well sung Holiday performances. On Monday, November 14th The Sharps

and Flats and 8th Grade Chorus sang at the Veterans Day Ceremony. Both

groups performed extremely well

and heard accolades from fellow students and staff. The performance

set the bar for the remainder of the school year.

Edison

Intermediate

Art

Eight Grade students in Ms. Hooper‘s crafts class are finishing up

tie dye pillows. They are making use of our generously donated sewing

machines from the Coalition for the

Arts. They are now taking their fiber work into weaving on a cardboard

loom. They are studying the use of color to make pattern and to learn a

variety of stitches for texture and

pattern. They are learning the cultural aspects of the fact that

weaving across the globe was the first way of telling a story, creating

clothing, and blankets.

The students in Mrs. Frees‘ class are

working in a unit of clay. They are learning the method of coiling to

create a coil pot that is of functional and decorative. They are to

measure the container so that it

meets the needs of what they are

holding inside the vessel. Students are recalling the methods they used

at the beginning of the year when they made twined baskets out of

reed. They will be working on sketches, and planning for a

decorative and functional box made

in the slab method for their next project in the unit.

Seventh grade students in both Mrs.

Frees and Ms. Hooper‘s class are

continuing the study of Art Movements in learning about Op

Art. They are learning about how art changed from the Realism of

Surrealism to the more abstract and simplified work of the Op Artists.

Students finished a lesson on

perspective in 2-point. They were to create a city using 2-point

perspective and build blocks, buildings and roads using proper

perspective with elements of

Surrealist Art in their work. They also created a clay topographic map

using what we learned about perspective and about how artists

create maps that show elevation.

Sixth grade students had their first

clay project in both Ms. Hooper and Mrs. Frees class. They created

Chancitos ―little pigs‖ inspired by the artists of Pomaire Chile. The

students learned to make a pinch pot and to use a balloon technique

to make a hollow pig. They also


used coils and learned about the

proper methods to attach clay to clay. Mrs. Frees and Ms. Hooper are

working on 1- point perspective letters and boxes using a ruler and

properly understanding drawing in 3-D. Mrs. Frees is also working

further to create American Folk Art

paintings in watercolor with building a one point perspective barn or

house.

Music

EIS Bands The 8th Grade Band had their first

performance at the EIS Veteran‘s

Day Assembly on November 15th. Performing for a packed house, they

played ―Armed Forces On Parade‖ and a challenging arrangement of

―Shenandoah‖ by Frank Ticheli. The

8th Grade Band has been working very hard and was pleased to help

celebrate Veteran‘s Day.

The Concert Bands are in full swing

preparing for their Winter Concert. The 8th Grade Band is working on a

beautiful setting of ―Greensleeves‖ by Robert W. Smith and ―A

Chanukah Triptych‖ by Jacques Rizzo. The 7th Grade Band is

preparing ―A Merry Christmas

Machine,‖ ―Simple Gifts,‖ and ―Bist Du Bei Mir‖ for their holiday

performance. Accompanying the 7th Grade Band on their concert, the 6th

Grade Band is very excited to

display everything they have done so far this year. Having band every

day has been instrumental in their development and they are ready to

wow the crowd showing their progress over the last 3 months.

The EIS Jazz Band has been rehearsing every Tuesday morning

at 7:15am before school. The emphasis of jazz band this year has

been improvisation. Getting

students to step out of the comfort zone and performing solos has

helped individuals gain confidence in their ability. The Jazz Band will be

going on a tour of the south side

elementary schools on December 23rd performing for and inspiring the

future generation of band students in Westfield.

EIS Orchestras

The 6th Grade Orchestra at Edison

Intermediate School is gearing up for their debut concert! The

students have been working diligently to perfect their concert

pieces by focusing on dynamics,

balance, and proper concert etiquette. Their program includes

Hanukkah Habanera, a medley of Habanera from Georges Bizet‘s

opera, Carmen, and Hanukkah, O Hanukkah and Dreidel. They will

also be playing an original work by

composer/arranger Doug Spata, entitled Gargoyles, a mysteriously

dark musical adventure that will leave you on the edge of your seat!

Join us at our concert on Tuesday

December 20th to hear their fabulous program!

The 7th Grade Orchestra at Edison

Intermediate School is preparing for their Winter concert as well. Just

like the 6th Grade, 7th Grade

students are also focusing on blending and balancing their sound

during rehearsals and creating a true musical experience with

exceptional use of dynamics.

Selections from their program include a medley of Carol of the Bells/Greensleeves; a return to the Roman Empire with Spartacus, by

Brian Balmages, which exemplifies the harsh life of a gladiator; a

peaceful and relaxing piece entitled

Appalachian Sunrise, by Doris Gazda; and of course a classic

Holiday tune, Winter Wonderland. Please join us on Tuesday

December 20th to hear this

outstanding group!

The EIS Symphony Orchestra, a select group of 42 students, is a

combination of String, Woodwind,

Brass, and Percussion students who meet twice a week before school to

rehearse. They are getting ready not only for their Winter concert,

which will take place on Tuesday December 13th, but also for the

annual Holiday Tour of the

elementary schools on Friday December 23rd. They are

performing some exciting arrangements, including It‘s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and Trepak from Tchaikovsky‘s The Nutcracker. They are a truly gifted

group of students who love to come together to create a spectacular

musical experience. Join them for their December 13th Concert!


Drama

The cast and crew of EIS‘ fall

drama, Holes delivered a great

drama from the beloved children‘s book by Louis Sachar October 27th –

29th. The shows contained impressive jobs that kept the

audience enthralled from start to finish. The performances were

amazing. The sets were impressive,

and the crew worked tirelessly to make sure the show moved

smoothly while the lights were out. An amazing three days were

experienced that made the Edison

community, and all of Westfield, proud. Congratulations to the cast

and crew, take a bow.

Franklin

Elementary

Art

The Art Students of Franklin School

have been working with a variety of

medium in the process of making Art. They are enhancing their art

vocabulary and artistic expression. Line, shape, color, texture and

space can be seen throughout the classroom with age appropriate

projects.

For the 2nd grade art students, they

are learning how to create tints and shades using tempera paint. A tint is

any color plus white and a shade is any color plus black. With this

knowledge and information they are

creating a sampler page using the warm and cool colors. Once this has

been completed, it will allow them to paint a skyscape. The placement

of the colors will create a background and a space to place

torn paper mountains creating

middle ground and foreground.

The 3rd grade students are learning about proper proportion and

positive and negative space. A body with its proportions is created with

shapes and placed in a doable pose.

The student becomes the model of this pose and color enhances the

drawing. Complementary colors are introduced and warm and cool

colors are reviewed. Colored

sharpies assist in very pleasing results.

With the 4th grade students, they

are using line as the focus of their project. The review of foreground,

middle ground and background can be seen with their ―Lines in the

City‖. A foreground and middle

ground was established with overlapping shapes representing

buildings. From there, lines were added inside the building to create

texture. Black sharpie was the

medium used for this element. The background is a series of circles

which create patterns. Warm and cool colored sharpies were used to

show contrast in a colorful background sky.

The 5th grade students experienced

a new medium for their next

project. Acrylic paint was used to create a foreground, middle ground

and background. The school year began with a bang as the subject

matter for their paintings was a sky

filled with Fireworks and its‘ reflective body of water. Shades

were used to create distance and space within the composition. The

students‘ creative experience has helped Mrs. Coveney with their

assessments and proving student

learning.

All grade level students are thoroughly engaged and enjoying

their art making!

Music

It has been a busy fall in 5th grade,

and they have been working hard as

they polish up their music for their

winter choral concert on December 7th at 7:00pm. This year‘s music

includes songs about the fun of winter, shopping for Christmas,

Hanukkah, and it will also feature seventeen instrumentalists as they

accompany one of the pieces on the

Orff instruments. The Glee Club and Student Council members will

also share their musical talents as they go caroling at Brighton

Gardens.

While there are a bunch of wonderful songs about the season

and holidays in December, the

students at Franklin will also be discussing the instruments of the

orchestra. In 1st grade, they will discover the four main families in

the orchestra and learn about some

of the major instruments in each. The third graders will get to explore

each individual instrument a little more in depth and match each

instrument to its family while

responding to the timbre through movement. Our fourth graders will

also review the four orchestral families and discuss how each

instrument produces a sound through vibrations. In all grades,

the Franklin students will continue

to reinforce and practice their new rhythms and pitches. Check out our

students composing this past month with our elemental rhythm building

blocks.


In January, our music classroom will

welcome Mr. Geyer‘s student teacher, Ms. Francis from Kean

University. Ms. Francis had the opportunity to observe and teach

some classes at Franklin last year

during her Junior Field studies, but this year she‘ll be with Mr. Geyer

every day until March. During this time, the students will explore the

different genres of music through

dancing and singing, while the fifth graders will be assigned a specific

genre and will become the experts in it. They‘ll then teach the rest of

the class about their genre. Afterwards, they‘ll continue

discussing form and even create

their own loops in using GarageBand and SoundTrap. We

also look forward to the fun lessons Ms. Francis will bring to Franklin.

Jefferson

Elementary

Art

The children in 1st grade are

immersing themselves in the African

culture! They are just finishing up their African Mood Masks, by adding

embellishments like wire or raffia hair, beads, feathers, maybe even a

little glitter (shh, don't tell the

custodians!). They are enjoying this multi-media project immensely.

Next we will be learning about the African Nile Crocodile. We will be

weaving, printmaking, collaging, and manipulating paper, all

culminating to make our crocodile

puppets. Mono-chromatic color theory will also be discussed.

In 2nd grade, we are finishing up our

Facial proportion unit by combining our heads with fantasy creatures of

our choice. Their imaginations were

really stretched as they came up with every creature you could think

of, from a hot dog-person to a radio-active alien-person from the

dark dimension... Our 2nd graders are pretty creative. They will be

starting their tree unit next, with a

special emphasis on tints and shades. This unit is full of paint;

please have your child dress appropriately.

Third grades have just begun a

large scale group project called,

"Aboriginal X-Ray Paintings". We discussed Australian animals, talked

about the aborigine people, and ancient art of Australia. The

children are just beginning to adjust to working with each other and

making compromises in this team

effort. It's been a rocky road so far, but being a good team is the main

focus of this lesson. They are working with acrylic paints on large

canvas board.

Fourth grades are in the middle of

their "One Point Perspective" unit. They have learned how to make

simple boxes in one point perspective and are now working on

their tree-lined streets. Soon they will be designing their citiscapes

using one point perspective. It is a

very difficult concept, but they are doing great with it. The end

products are always a crowd pleaser and something that the students are

very proud of.

Students in the 5th grade are

adding the finishing touches to their "Day of the Dead" sculptures. Their

next project will be 2-D; using many different drawing media and

concentrating on different drawing

techniques.

Music

Jefferson & McKinley Strings The McKinley and Jefferson 5th

grade string orchestras are hard at work preparing for their Winter

Concerts. Their concert will include traditional holiday favorites, such as,

―Up on the Housetop‖ and ―Dreydl,‖ as well as Vince Guaraldi‘s

―Skating,‖ from A Charlie Brown Christmas. Come hear the full elementary string program perform

on Monday, December 19th at 7:00 pm at Edison Intermediate School.

The 4th grade beginner string

students are making great progress learning a brand new instrument!

They are working hard to master the many skills that go into playing

a string instrument, including note

reading, listening, and left and right hand technique. The students are

eager to perform in the Spring!

Following the Fall unit‘s final Sing-A-

Long, the Jefferson Music classes will be starting their Winter

Celebrations unit. Tone Color /

Timbre and Form / Style will be


discussed throughout. Songs and

stories from around the world (the USA, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden,

Syria, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands to name a few) will be

included.

The 1st grade songs for December

will include: ―In The Window‖, ―Up On The Housetop‖, ―African Noel‖,

―Here Comes Santa Claus‖, ―Hanukkah, O Hanukkah‖, and

―Jingle Bells‖ from their textbooks.

They will also study Tchaikovsky‘s ―Overture‖ and ―March‖ from the

ballet The Nutcracker (Part I).

The 2nd grade songs for December will include: ―Jolly Old St. Nicholas‖,

―Jingle Bells‖, ―La Pinata‖, ―Joyous

Hanukkah‖, and ―Silent Night‖ from their textbooks. They will also study

Humperdinck‘s ―Evening Prayer‖ from the Opera, Hansel and Gretel.

The 3rd grade songs for December will include: ―Rudolph The Red-

Nosed Reindeer‖, ―Habari Gani‖, ―Hanukkah Hanukkah‖, ―Winter

Wonderland‖, and ―Chanukkah

Games‖. They will also compare and contrast Tchaikovsky‘s Dances

from the ballet, The Nutcracker (Part II).

The 4th grade songs for December

will include: ―O Chanukah‖, ―Silver

Bells‖, ―Here We Come A-Wassailing‖, ―Harambee‖, and

―The Pinata Song‖ from their textbooks. They will also study the

first One-Act Opera for Television,

Amahl and the Night Visitors.

The 5th graders are currently rehearsing for their Fifth Grade

Winter Band and Chorus Concert. The sound of instruments, bells, 3-

part rounds, 2-part songs, and

partner songs will surely brighten your spirits. The program will be

given in the Jefferson Auditorium on Wednesday, December 14th at 1pm

(for staff and students only) and

7pm (for parents and guests).

Winter Celebrations in January (the study of FORM) and February (the

study of MELODY) will include songs of the New Year, Underground

Railroad, Spirituals, Harriet Tubman,

Martin Luther King, Jr., The Chinese New Year, Presidents Day (Patriotic

songs), and Valentine‘s Day.

McKinley

Elementary

Art

First Grade artists have used foam

shapes to create fun portraits of

imaginary characters. Artists are working with texture in a new way

and exhibiting a lot of stamina for this multistep project. These

portraits will be painted in the next

few weeks while helping the students practice mixing secondary

colors. Students also learned about using geometric shapes in new ways

and how to put shapes together to create art. This fundamental lesson

is literally a building block to a

strong foundation in the arts.

Second Grade artists are creating black and white negative/positive

paper stencil prints and having the best time! Check out some of these

amazing prints these artists made

from cutting paper stencils and then using a sponge to print them with

black ink. Other concepts like

symmetry, asymmetry and shape helped to provide this project with

deeper understandings for these hard working artists.

Third Grade artists just created their

3D clay coil sculptures and we are in the current stage of painting them.

It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the difference in working

in 3D from a 2D sketch, how to

build with coils, form and using line in this third dimension. From here

the students will utilize line in a foam printmaking project and move

back into 2D work. These prints will be hand colored as we focus on

complementary colors and learn

about why this color combo provides dramatic results.


Fourth Grade artists have begun

assembling their monochromatic sculptures made of recycled objects.

Students are creating their own form and utilizing problem solving

skills to achieve their desired structure. After the tape stage the

students will be using plaster strips

to create more stability and a working surface for their later stage

of monochromatic painting. Other concepts like proportion, scale,

balance and space have been

highlighted during this multistep project. We are having so much fun!

Fifth Grade artists began their

Micrographic Self Portrait project with writing down their favorite

color and then the first 50 words

that ‗popped‘ into their stream of consciousness. The students would

then use these words to draw with. Words were used as lines and to

create value within their works. This

project served as a successful introduction to graphic design

utilizing a graphite transfer technique with their school

photograph and incorporating text

for their dramatic visual piece.

Music

The 1st graders at McKinley have also been composing using different

note values. Students made Rhythm Turkeys this month for Thanksgiving

where each feather equals one beat.

Below is a picture of some of their compositions.

The 2nd graders at McKinley have been working a lot in centers this

past month. Some of the centers are rhythm games, and others are

ipad creative centers. One of the

apps the students have really enjoyed using this month is called

Sketch-a-Song where they can create different beat and melody

patterns while coloring in a picture.

In December students will be learning about the different

instrument families and listening to famous pieces that incorporate all

instruments.

The 3rd and 4th grade students at

McKinley Elementary have been focusing on rhythm during the

month of November in their general music classes. The classes

composed and performed their own Thanksgiving Rhythm Raps and

learned the song ―No More Pie.‖ I

hope that some of these musical activities made it to your

Thanksgiving table! The month of December will bring lessons about

the timbre of the different

instrument families and how they produce sound. There are many

great story books that further explore the instruments of the

symphony orchestra, especially by Anna Harwell Celenza, that may be

fun to read with your family. Explore

and Enjoy!

The 5th graders at McKinley have been working really hard to prepare

for their concert on December 14th.

There will be a daytime performance at 1:00 pm and a

nighttime performance at 7:00 pm. Students will sing a variety of songs

accompanied by classroom

instruments in a few. In music class students have been creating

compositions using an ipad app called Auxy. Students had to create

5 rhythmic patterns in 4/4 time signature in standard music notation

and then transfer that into auxy

which is boxed notation.


Tamaques

Elementary

Art

The 1st grade students recently

―hopped‖ through Color Theory while studying warm and cool

colors! After learning to draw fantastic frogs, they used their

newfound knowledge to paint their

drawings with watercolor and tempera paint. They are extending

that knowledge with their current lesson creating cool wintery

backgrounds with birch trees and

topping them with warm colored cardinals!

Grade 2 is learning about Gustav

Klimt and his ornately patterned works of art. They are creating

drawings of Grumpy Cat wearing Klimt inspired clothing for an

interesting update on the works of

the famous Viennese artist!

Third grade is finishing up mixed media fall tree paintings. They

learned how to create a wash for the background, use tempera for

painting opaque trees, and collage techniques for adding the fall

leaves.

The 4th grade students are finishing

up their unit on 1-point perspective drawing. They learned that art and

math intersect when they designed bedrooms using parallel lines,

orthogonal lines, and a horizon line

with a vanishing point. After adding creative details, they used water

color and sharpie to complete their masterpieces!

The 5th grade just finished up their

sculpture unit on Pop Art and the results were magnificent! There

was tremendous variety including

giant sushi and chopsticks, donuts, ice cream, animals, and an ice

skate, just to name a few! Some are

currently on display in the main hallway!

5th grader, Emory Wilner with her Pop Art Sushi

Music

Tamaques & Washington

4th & 5th Grade Bands The Tamaques and Washington 4th

grade band students were excited to play the following songs at their

family‘s Thanksgiving Feast: Hot Cross Buns, Rolling Along and Go

Tell Aunt Rhodie! The students plan

to entertain family and friends over the holidays with Jingle Bells and My

Dreydl!

The Washington and Tamaques 5th Grade band students are busy

preparing for their December

concerts. The students are hard at work on First Winter‘s Sleigh Ride, The Hanukkah Song, Christmas March, Jingle Bones, a whimsical selection featuring the trombone section and Christmas Elves in Santa‘s Workshop!

Family and friends are invited to the

free concerts! The Tamaques 5th Grade Chorus and Band Holiday

Concert is Wednesday: December 14th, at 7:00 PM in the Tamaques

School auditorium. The Washington School 5th Grade Chorus and Band

Concert is Wednesday: December

7th at 7:00 PM in the Washington School auditorium. Come and enjoy

the music!

Washington

Elementary Art

Artists at Washington School have been getting their hands messy with

some awesome artwork!

In the 1st grade, students have

started learning the art basics—line, shape, and color. They have

recently completed their ―Longest Line‖ project, in which they bent,

curved, and squeezed the longest single line possible onto a piece of

paper. These were then enhanced

using shapes and colors. Next, they used all the colors of the color

wheel to design monsters. Each student loved creating a unique

persona for their new red, yellow,

blue, orange, green and purple friends.


Second grade students are creating

landscapes. This unit of study began with a watercolor painting of the

ocean. Artists then traveled to a galaxy far, far away for an outer

space collage. These pieces included hundreds of stars, spherical

planets, and fiery rocket ships. The

work truly transports the viewer.

The 3rd grade is working on the

basics of figure drawing. The human figure can be a daunting art

subject, so this group has started

with Lego self-portraits. After looking at these little toys, simple

shape drawings were made and then accessorized to represent their

specific creators. This has proven

to be a fun and engaging assignment.

Fourth grade artists are also

investigating figure drawing with artist Keith Haring as their

inspiration. Students are creating colorful people in marker drawings.

The bright colors and active designs display a new level of energy in the

work.

In 5th grade, students have been

focused on portraiture. They have studied facial proportion and applied

their findings to a drawing of their

face. Did you know your eyes are actually near the center of your

head? And that the average face is the width of 5 eyes? These

students do, and this knowledge is helping them create some beautiful

work. Finished pieces will be

displayed at the end of the year along with their original portrait

projects from first grade. It is always a thrill to see the artistic

growth each student achieves!

Music

With Autumn already in full swing, we had our annual Fall Sing-Along

on November 23rd. All of our songs

were mainly about Halloween, Fall, and Thanksgiving, and the students

were excited to showcase their hard work! Some favorites of ours

included ―Autumnish Feeling‖,

―Turkey Tango‖, ―Witch‘s Brew‖, and ―Better Bundle Up‖. It was a

huge success!

Throughout November, we discussed rhythms using songs,

body percussion, and games to help

our knowledge and understanding. Other concepts we have also

discussed include pitch, melody, dynamics, and texture, and the

students have demonstrated their

knowledge by singing songs and playing games that incorporate

these important musical concepts.

In December, the students will be

exploring the many instruments, timbres, and colors of the orchestra.

They will learn about how sounds are produced on instruments and

why specific voices vary. They will be listening and analyzing music,

determining tone color and quality.

The 5th grade chorus is

enthusiastically preparing for our upcoming winter concert! This will

take place on December 7th at 7pm,

and will include both the 5th grade chorus and band here at

Washington. We will be singing a wonderful mix of songs about

Winter, Christmas and Hanukkah. Some favorites of ours include

―Winter Canon‖, ―Feliz Navidad‖,

―Jazzy Old St. Nick‖, and ―How Many Nights‖. All are welcome to attend

this free concert at 7pm in the gym at Washington!

Wilson

Elementary

Art

By working together as a class, 1st

grade art students learned that together they can create beautiful

art! Using literature can be used as a springboard for creative ideas, so

Mrs. Massenzio read ―Plant a

Rainbow,‖ by Lois Ehlert. The children learned about perspective,

texture, foreground, middle ground, and background, along with the

names of various flowers and

insects. The finished murals were impressive!

Second grade students were

introduced to Pop artist, Wayne Thiebaud, by viewing his painting

of ice cream. Students recreated ice

cream cones in the style of this popular contemporary artist. Pop Art


is a form of art that drew its

inspiration and ideas from ordinary objects or scenes from everyday

life. The students learned that by adding white to any color, you

create a tint. A shade is achieved by adding black to any color. The

children loved creating the ―world‘s

tallest ice cream cone, as they experimented with different media

and textures.

Third grade art students learned all

about the Aurora Borealis, (also known as the Northern Lights).

This spectacular light show in the sky occurs when the Earth‘s

magnetic field interacts with charged particles from the sun. This

dazzling display is usually green,

white, blue, and sometimes red! The students added silhouettes of

trees in the foreground. The results were impressive, and the students

were very excited about their

pictures!

Fourth grade students were excited to create large dancing giraffe

collages. Based on the book,

GIRAFFES CAN‘T DANCE by Giles Andreae, students learned about

collage, and how to create one, using various papers and textures.

The children learned how to illustrate motion in a picture, and at

the same time, learned some

interesting facts about giraffes. Did you know that a baby giraffe can

walk 30 minutes after it is born? Through the auspices of the Wildlife

Foundation, we learned that giraffes

are endangered, and we‘ll be adopting a real giraffe! Our

donation will help these beautiful animals live for years to come in the

wild.

The 5th grade students in Mrs.

Massenzio‘s class had fun designing large sized 3-D dogs. The students

learned about texture, and how value creates contrast through darks

and lights. They became familiar

with various breeds of dogs. By using the elements of design, they

created wonderful canine creations!

Lincoln

School

Our kindergarteners are working hard while in art class-

painting, drawing and collaging. We have been learning all about lines

and how lines make shapes

including turkeys. In December and January, we will be working with

primary and secondary colors, creating perspective in a winter

landscape and adding a bit of

sculpture in for fun.

Our littlest students in pre-k have been hard at work creating

wonderful art focusing on shapes and the autumn holidays. In

December and January, our pre-k

friends will be focusing on 3-dimensional design including

sculpture and collage with some patterning mixed in. Should be a fun

time for all!

The students at Lincoln School have been busy learning about piano and

forte dynamics and rhythm patterns of quarter note, quarter rest and

eighth notes. Students composed

their own songs in November about pie using quarter notes and eighth

notes! Below is a picture of students

composing together. In December students will learn a song from the

Polar Express to sing at our Polar Express Celebration Day.

The Department of Visual & Performing Arts would like to thank the Westfield Coalition for the Arts for their generous donations benefiting so many students throughout the district this year.

Master Classes for WHS Choral

EIS Band Room Upgrade

Sandblaster and Air

Compressor for EIS Crafts and Fine Arts Students

Reversible Music Staff

Whireboard for Wilson School Music Students

Please see page 20 for

ways you can help or donate to the WCA.


Support the Westfield High School

Band and Choir programs!

$15 - Order by December 31st

Email [email protected] for order forms

Pickup on January 7th


Westfield Coalition for the Arts

FALL 2016

Dear Westfield Parents: Another school year is upon us and we are here, once again, ready to advocate for the ARTS IN OUR SCHOOLS! Our mission is to act as an advocate for all of the

arts, including music, drama, visual arts, and dance in all of the Westfield Public Schools, by speaking out on behalf of the arts, maintaining public awareness and utilizing sources of community, financial and philosophical support. Each year we award grants to different arts programs in the schools based upon applications submitted to us from the Westifield Schools’ faculty. This year, we were happy to award over $25,000 in grant money for the following: Guest Band Conductor at RIS, continuing education programs for several faculty members, an art project that connected Tamaques 4th graders with students in Rwanda, Africa, sound-recording equipment for the WHS Choirs, new instruments for the WHS bands, new uniforms and instruments for the WHS Marching Band, a new piano for Jefferson, magnetic chalkboard for art classes at EIS, a new kiln for ceramics at WHS, new costume accessories for EIS’ Broadway Singers, percussion instruments for EIS, and a digital keyboard for RIS. We are so fortunate to live in a community that reveres the arts and believes strongly in nourishing the diverse talents of our youth. Demonstrate YOUR commitment to the arts by making a donation today. With your donations we are able to assist the music, choral, fine art, and theatre programs at the elementary, intermediate and high school levels. We are an independent, not-for-profit organization, and we depend solely on the generosity of parents and supporters. In addition, the Coalition is interested in your ideas, suggestions, and comments and hope that you will take the time to email us at [email protected]. PLEASE “LIKE” us on FACEBOOK and visit our website: http://www.WestfieldCoalitionForTheArts.weebly.com We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for your support.

~ Margaret Smith, W.C.A. President _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Yes, I/we would like to support the WCA. I/we will donate:

Benefactor $500 Sponsor $75

Angel $200 Sustaining Member $50

Patron $100 Donation $_______

In appreciation of your gift of $75.00 or more, your name will print in the Winter & Spring concert programs.

Name: __________________________________________________________________________________________________ (If donating $75 or more, please print the name as you would like it to appear in the programs.)

Email: _________________________________________________Phone: ________________________________________ Yes, I am interested in volunteering with the Coalition. Westfield Public School (where youngest child attends): __________________________________________________________

Please make checks payable to Westfield Coalition for the Arts, and mail to:

WCA Treasurer, 562 Pierson St., Westfield NJ 07090

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.westfieldcoalitionforthearts.weebly.com./

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