PianoArts Winner 2012 Sahun Hong performs at Reagan!

PianoArts is a biennial international piano competition held in Milwaukee at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. The 2012 winner Sahun (Sam) Hong recently visited Reagan this past Friday to perform and interact with our piano club students and other members of the Reagan music department. Students had the opportunity to ask Sam questions about life as a musician, practice/performance tips and much more! Special thanks to PianoArts founder Sue Medford for coordinating this wonderful event!

You can find out more about PianoArts on their website:  http://www.pianoarts.org/

IB Students Present in Annual Composer's Forum

The IB Music Higher Level and IB Music Standard Level- Creating students presented their original musical compositions to a group of 30 music students. The young composers presented 3-6 minute pieces in various musical styles and instrumentations and received comments and feedback from their peers. These talented students used various compositional programs such as Noteflight, Mixcraft and AbeltonLive to complete their unique projects. Their written notation, mp3 audio and artistic statements will be sent off for moderation and will contribute to their overall IB college credit!

IB Music Guest Lecturer: Derrick Hahn

In IB Music 1 today, senior Derrick Hahn stepped in as teacher to guide students through a study of Romantic era piano music. Derrick provided his peers with an interactive analysis of the thematic development in Chopin's Ballade no. 4.

Here are a few pictures of Derrick in action:

BRAVO IB Music 2 Students!

Last night, four of Reagan's finest senior musicians presented a recital of solo music on their instruments.  Recordings of their performances in the recital constitute 25% of their overall IB Higher Level score for college credit.  Over 70 friends, staff, parents and community members came out to support these students in their outstanding musical efforts. Students also wrote detailed program notes describing the musical features and historical context of each piece performed in the recital.   Special thanks to Adam Baus for his outstanding accompaniment skills in the performance!

The repertoire performed on the recital is listed below:

Now, O Now, My Needs Must Part  by John Dowland  (1563-1626)

When To Her Lute Corina Sings  byThomas Campion  (1575-1619)

Bist Du bei Mir by Johann Sebastian Bach (1680-1750)

Liebst du um Schönheit     by Clara Schumann  (1819-1896)

Caro Mio Ben by Giuseppe Giordani (1744-1798)

Pur Dicesti by Antonio Lotti  (1667-1740)

The Ash Grove  arr. Benjamin Britten (1913-1976)

The Sky Above The Roof   by Ralph Vaughan Williams  (1872- 1958)

 I Dreamed A Dream  by Claude-Michel Shönberg  (1944-      )

Blanca Martinez,  mezzo-soprano

Minuet in G Major  by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)   arr. by Ryan Tedder  

Morgenstemnin   by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

I Dovregubbens Hall  by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Time (Inception Theme)  by Hans Zimmer  (1957-       )

Come Sail Away  by Dennis DeYoung & Tommy Shaw

Strobe          by Joel Zimmerman (1981-        )  arr. Morgan Schultz

Morgan Schultz, piano

Romances op. 4 no. 5 by  Sergei Rachmaninoff  (1873-1943)

Trumpet Concerto in Eb Major Hob.VII, e. 1  by Joseph Haydn  (1732-1809)

          1.  Allegro

            II. Andante 

The Maid of The Mist       by Herbert L. Clark (1867-1945) 

El Torero  by  Stanley F. Thomas

 Roman Mariano, trumpet

Etude op 10 no. 4 in C sharp minor  by Frédéric Chopin  (1810-1849)

Prelude and fugue no. 22 in B flat minor  by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

from The Well Tempered Clavier book 1

Piano Sonata op. 10 no. 3 in D major  by Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

            1.  Presto

Ballade no. 4, op. 52  by Frédéric Chopin  (1810-1849)

Derrick Hahn, piano

Help Upgrade Our Theater!

CLICK HERE TO VOTE!

The Reagan Theater Department has been selected as a finalist in the NBC Smash Make a Musical Contest!

The 5 schools with the most votes (out of 30 national finalists) will receive a $3000 gift card from Lowes to improve their theater.  Anyone can vote (but only once a day) by visiting http://www.makeamusical.org/smash-make-a-musical/meet-the-schools/ and clicking on Ronald Reagan College Prep HS. 

(Please note that MPS staff and students should vote from their home computers since votes from the same IP address count only once per day.)

Students Visit Florentine Opera Center!

On Monday March 11, thirty Reagan Students from IB Music and all five choirs attended a workshop at the Florentine Opera Center in Riverwest.

Students learned about the background and musical features of the Florentine's upcoming performance of Benjamin Britten's chamber opera Albert Herring.  The opera company's four studio artists presented short scenes from the opera to set the stage.

The students also had the opportunity to interact with the costume and makeup designers for the show.  A few students got to experience stage make up and wig fitting just like the opera singers!

Fifty Reagan music students from all of the performing ensembles will be attending Albert Herring this Friday at Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Milwaukee.  Special thanks to Education & Outreach Coordinator Sarah Jones for creating and sustaining such a wonderful partnership with the Vera J. Zilber Music Department!

For more information on the Florentine Opera, please visit:
http://www.florentineopera.org/

Birdie Cast to Perform at the Skylight!

This past week the cast of Reagan's 2013 musical Bye Bye Birdie were invited to perform in the Skylight Opera Theater's High School Musical Showcase on May 21st at 7:30PM in the Third Ward.  The students will perform two selections from this year's production "Put on a Happy Face" and "Got a Lot of Livin' To Do."  The performance is open to the public ($10 adults, $5 Students).  We hope you will come out and support these talented Reagan students!