NYC Arts Immersion for Groton Musicians

Groton’s orchestra and jazz ensemble traveled to New York City over Presidents Day Weekend to perform at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle near Lincoln Center and to enjoy a few days immersed in world-class art and music.

Parents, alumni, and friends attended the performance, which featured Groton's jazz ensembles, chamber music groups, and chamber orchestra. The big band, Soul Sauce, and the smaller Riverside combo started things off with lively jazz, including music of Quincy Jones, Count Basie, and Paul Desmond. Then three trios—a piano trio; flute, violin, and cello trio; and a two-violin and cello trio—all from Groton's Select Chamber Music Class, played music of Borodin, Bach, and Haydn.

Finally, the Chamber Orchestra closed the performance with music of Mozart, Fauré, and Bizet. Student bloggers Alaric Krapf and Peter Nam described the power of the venue in the music trip blog: “Pieces that we had practiced many times took on an entirely different character,” they wrote. “The incredible reverb of that space added a majestic quality to every note.”

When not performing, the students were inspired by others’ master performances. They attended two one-act operas, Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle, at the Metropolitan Opera, and they experienced Jazz at Lincoln Center, featuring Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves.

Students also performed with the Dwight-Englewood School in New Jersey; toured the National September 11 Memorial Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; enjoyed a customized presentation, including a question-and-answer session with the principal flutist of the Met Orchestra at the Metropolitan Opera; and explored Little Italy, SoHo, and Chinatown. In addition, three Groton alumni, Yowana Wamala ‘14, Charlotte Davies ‘11, and Max Lindemann ‘11, gave the group an impromptu tour of Columbia University.

Photo by Kenji Kikuchi

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