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West Milford Township Public Schools 

Arts Department 
You Matter. We Matter. The Arts Matter 
April 2018 

“I believe arts education in music, theater, dance, and the visual 


arts is one of the most creative ways we have to find the gold 
that is buried just beneath the surface. They (children) have an 
enthusiasm for life, a spark of creativity, and vivid imaginations 
that need training – training that prepares them to become 
confident young men and women.” 
-Richard W. Riley, Former US Secretary of Education 


 
 

Welcome to April 2018 Arts Newsletter! It sure doesn't feel like April, but despite the Snow-filled
March, the West Milford Arts had a busy and successful season of events which are highlighted here. I
hope you enjoy seeing the pictures and reading of the successes of our staff and students!

Two of the many highlights of this season, are the success of our Culinary students in the Culinary
Institute of NY at Monroe College "America's Best HS Chef" competition. Our first time entering this, we
were the ONLY public school represented. I'll let you look for the results below. It is worth the search!

The second is the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM, a non-profit association), ​"Best
Communities in Music Education"​ award for the tenth year running! I am certain of previous years as
well, but my history there is fuzzy. This award is given after completing an extensive survey asking about
the Schools, the Staff, the Budget, the Administrative and Community Support, Performance
Opportunities and Professional Development. It is no surprise that we have again received this coveted
award, but it is no less wonderful! It is an award we all share as members of the West Milford Arts
Community! So give yourselves a pat on the back as well! Yea us!

Enjoy more events and details below! We look forward to welcoming you at our upcoming Spring
Events! We hope to see you there!

Happy Spring (very soon!)

John Boronow, K-12 Supervisor of Music, Art & Family & Consumer Sciences in West Milford 

 
West Milford High 
School Band: 
Jazz Ensembles:

In February, the West Milford Jazz Ensemble participated


in the Berklee High School Jazz Festival in Boston, MA.
The Berklee festival is arguably considered the biggest jazz
festival in the country and also contains international participants. The Jazz Ensemble came in 2nd place
in Large Ensemble Class L2 and both Peter Suckiel and Eric Darnsteadt were awarded outstanding
musicianship awards. A few weeks later, the ensemble competed in the NJAJE New Jersey State
Preliminary Festival. The preliminaries occur over the course of 5 consecutive days at various locations
around the state. The jazz ensemble earned the only GOLD rating at their respective night of prelims as
well as the Best Overall Trumpet Section, Best Overall Rhythm Section, Best Sight Reading Award, and


 
 

both Stephen Rampolla and Peter Oselador were


awarded Outstanding Soloist Awards. The group will
compete in NJ State Finals on April 28th at Burlington
City High School.

In other jazz related news, the West Milford Jazz


Program will be hosting a middle school jazz festival in
the high school auditorium on April 27th and a two-day
high school jazz festival on May 3rd and 4th. The high
school
jazz
festival will host a select jazz ensemble from Lima, Peru,
who will perform on both nights of the festival. The
group will also be performing at Trumpets Jazz Club in
Montclair, NJ on Sunday May 6 with special guest artist,
the legendary trombonist Slide Hampton. It is an
exciting time for jazz in West Milford, we hope to see
you at one of these performances.

New Jersey Wind Symphony:


Each year the New Jersey Wind Symphony holds a Youth Soloist Competition. The winner then performs
as a featured guest soloist with the group on their final concert of the season. This year’s winner is West
Milford’s own Daniel Dauber, who will play an Alto Saxophone solo on May 11. The concert will be at
Westside Presbyterian Church in
Ridgewood, NJ. Tickets are available
at ​http://njwindsymphony.org

The concert will also feature nine


other Highlander Band students in
what is known as the SIde-by-side
concert, where area high schoolers
are invited to perform with the
professional musicians. Included in
this honor are oboist Kathyrn Keller,
clarinetists Audrey Leibig, Christina
Shao, Theresa Santa Lucia, Sophie
Pilaar, and Raquel Mea, hornist Cassie
Petrich, bass trombonist Ben McLaughlin, and Chris Kubelle on euphonium.


 
 

NJMEA Performance:
The Highlander Wind Ensemble was invited to
give a new music clinic at the Wind Band
Academy at the NJMEA Convention this year.
The band gave performances of five newly
published works, ranging from medium to
advanced levels of difficulty. The band
performed very well, earning standing
ovations, and even moving some audience
members to tears!

They performed ​Blue​ ​Mambo​ by Michael


Sweeney, ​The​ ​Rains​ ​of​ ​Scarborough​ ​Fair​ by
Randall Standridge, ​Echoes​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Woods​ by
Rick Kirby, ​This​ C
​ ruel​ ​Moon​ by John Mackey,
and ​Spy​ ​Ring​ by Richard Saucedo.
Congratulations to the Highlander Wind
Ensemble for this honor, and for representing
our program in exemplary fashion!

National Honor Orchestra

Jordan Dreyer, a senior bassoon player, was accepted into the United States National Honor Orchestra.
She submitted a recorded audition in the fall, and was selected out of applications from all over the
country. She travelled to Indianapolis at the beginning of March to spend several days in rehearsal, all
of which culminated in a truly astounding performance. Jordan is only the second student in West
Milford History to be named to an ensemble of this level. We are very proud of Jordan and her many
high-level accomplishments.

 
 


 
 

Spring Musicals: 
 
High School’s The Little
Mermaid:
Despite the relentless
March snow, this years
WMHS production of ​The
Little Mermaid​ was a
smashing success. With a
meet the characters
luncheon and an

elementary school
preview, the children and
adults alike of the West
Milford community were
taken on a colorful
journey ​Under The Sea.
The snow even helped
enhance the mood with
some amazing snow sculptures. Special thanks to the
maintenance and custodial staff for having our
buildings audience ready despite 20 inches of snow and a special thanks to the community for digging
out and showing up.

Macopin’s Beauty and the Beast


The phrase ‘March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb’ did not stay true this year...it was a lion the
whole time! Fortunately amongst the weekly nor’easters, our Macopin students were able to put on a
phenomenal production of ​Beauty and the Beast.​ We couldn’t be more proud of these budding actors
and look forward to seeing what’s in store for them as they continue on in the high school!


 
 

 
 
America’s Best High School Chef  
Abigail Porch won America's Top High School Chef and the recipient of a full academic scholarship to The
Culinary Institute of New York. Anthony Hopler came in fourth place in the cooking portion of the
competition. He was a awarded a partial scholarship. Many hours of preparation and practice went into
this event and there accomplishments are truly impressive. Their hard work and determination will carry
them far and we look forward to hearing about their future accomplishments. We are so proud
of them!

 
 
 
 


 
 

Macopin Music: 
 
Junior Region Chorus:
This was an exciting year for our young vocalists in Junior Region Chorus. West Milford had the most
participants it has ever had. From Macopin: Aidan Becker, Georgie Barrett, Angelo Fernandez and
Daphne King represented in the Mixed Choir. Madi Storch, Lilianna Sanchez, Morgan Todisco, Grace
Syme, Julia Gerst and High Schooler Natalie Hamblin represented us in the Treble Choir. They had a
marvelous performance t Kittatinny Regional High School.

NJSMA Band Festival:


The 8th Grade Band attended the NJMEA
Middle School Band Festival at West Essex
on March 28th. Expectations are that
musicians can play the notes and rhythms,
the next level is how you interpret the piece
through dynamics and articulations and
express it musically to your audience, a very
mature concept.
Macopin did very well, they earned a silver
rating of an 86, two points away from the
gold rating. So we are almost there and just
need to tweak some things for our next
festival performance in May. The judges,
Mr. Evan Cooper and Mr. Anthony
Mazzocchi, were very very impressed with the tone and sound of the group. Our band had a mini clinic
with Mr. Cooper directly after their performance, both judges shared recordings with their comments of
our performance giving us some great insight on what to work on to get us to that rating of a Gold. Both
of these judges are very qualified music educators, experts in their field. I truly feel it is so important to
spend a day listening to other middle school bands and to have the opportunity to work with another
band director, we are very fortunate that we have a supportive administration that allows us to take
these musical journeys together and cultivate these
young talented students into better musicians.

Eighth Grade Band Day:


The 8th Grade Band hosted our first "Band Day"
with our neighboring 8th grade musicians from
Schuyler Colfax Middle School, in Wayne on
Thursday, April 19th.
Both bands performed for each other while being
critiqued by the instrumental music staff from both
schools. Following their performances the bands
clinic-ed with the High School Band Directors,


 
 

Dr. McLaughlin worked with Wayne and Mr. Paterno worked with West Milford. This gave the
students the experience of working underneath the baton of another conductor as well as the
opportunity to improve on the pieces they are currently preparing for future festivals and concert
performances. After the clinics, students broke for lunch and got to know their neighbors!
After lunch all students participated in a combined rehearsal where they rehearsed the Star Spangled
Banner and Marches of the Armed Forces with Miss McPartland and the 8th Grade Band Director from
Wayne, Mr. Pusak, giving them another opportunity to work with another conductor and each other.
At 12:30 p.m. we had a short performance for our Wayne/West Milford parents and administrations.
Without the support of our administration and parents we would not be able to give our students these
wonderful opportunities and shared memories.

We thank you ALL for the platform you give us daily to develop and showcase the talents of these young
musicians!

Junior Region Jazz


The North Jersey Region I Jazz Festival was held at
Sparta High School this April. Our very own Matt
Gramata conducted the junior ensemble where
Macopin’s Declan
Wallace played
Trombone. We are
proud of both for
their
accomplishments!

Middle School Jazz Festival


The First West Milford Middle School Jazz Festival will be taking place on April 27th at West Milford
High School. Middle school jazz bands from schools in Passaic, Sussex, and Morris counties will be
performing at our festival. The bands will be judged, and and then receive a rating (Gold, Silver, and
Bronze) for their performance.


 
 

High School Art: 


 
Art Honor Society
On April 5th, the National Art Honor Society celebrated its members with a night of art and ceremony,
officially inducting its members for the 2018 school year. The night included an exhibition of student
artwork featuring a final show of work from graduating seniors. A ceremony was held to induct new
probationary members as well as honor our new and longstanding student artists.

Music in Our Schools & Youth Art Month 


We wrapped up March with our annual Elementary celebration of Music in our Schools and Youth Art
Month with our theme celebrating the 80’s!


 
 

All District 
This year's K-12 collaborative mural art
project was inspired by the international
street artist, Kelsey Montague. Her
inspiring and interactive wing murals are
made from paint pens and challenge
people to ask the question "What Lifts
you?" and "What makes your heart Soar?
At the elementary level, grades were
divided so that each grade level, K-6, was
represented with a feather color. Students
focused on the art element, value, and
created
a
painted
value
scale. Students' line and pattern designs were done with white to
enhance the contrast of the feather. Students in art classes grades
7-12 had a hand in the mural as well; creating feathers to add to mural
as well as helping to assemble the mural, and writing the quote. “On a
night like our All District Arts Festival, we know what lifts us.”

 
 
 

 
 

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West Milford High School Music does 


Disney! 
The Highlander Music Department travelled to sunny
Florida this month. Disney extended invitations to
perform in three workshops and four performances.

The workshops gave students an opportunity to


work with professional musicians and entertainers
in dance and recording session formats. The
students learned many valuable insights into their
performing craft and were enthusiastic and
engaged.

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Public performances included a Marching Band parade through


the Magic Kingdom, and concert performances on the
Waterside stage at Disney Springs. Featured in concert were
the Concert Band, the Jazz Ensemble, and the Concert Choir.
Every group performed admirably, drawing excited responses
from large audiences. The students were terrific, both on the
stage and in the parks.

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A Look Ahead…. 
 
Spring Concerts:

Mark your calendars now!


★ High School Choral Concert: May 10th at 7:30pm
★ Macopin Choral Concert: May 16th at 7pm at WMHS
★ Macopin Instrumental Concert: May 17th at 7pm at WMHS
★ High School and Macopin Jazz Concert: May 21st at 6:30pm at Macopin
★ High School Instrumental Concert: May 24th at 7:30pm
★ Marshall Hill (at Macopin) & Paradise Knoll Elementary Spring Concerts: May 31st at 7pm
★ Upper Greenwood Lake & Apshawa Elementary Spring Concerts: June 4th at 7pm
★ Maple Road & Westbrook Elementary Concerts: June 5th at 7pm

Summer Academies
NEW THIS SUMMER: WEST MILFORD BAND PARENTS ARE SPONSORING A SUMMER ARTS PROGRAM!

Choral Academy
The goal of the West Milford Choral Academy is to provide students entering grades 5-9 with an
opportunity to prepare vocally for the upcoming school year and to perfect and expand on vocal and
performance techniques within a solo and ensemble setting.
The program runs Monday through Friday from July 9th through July 20th from 10am through 1pm with
a culminating concert performance the evening of the 20th.

Concert Band Academy:


The goal of the West Milford Concert Band Academy is to provide students entering grades 7-8 an
opportunity to continue their music study over the summer by gaining instruction in both a large
ensemble and small group setting.
The program runs from July 23 to August 3 at WMHS, with a student performance at Noon on the 3rd.
The day is broken into three 1-hour sessions. 9am-10am will be woodwind sectional/masterclass,
10am-11am will be full concert band rehearsal, and 11am-12pm will be brass & percussion
sectional/masterclass.

Jazz Academy:
The Jazz Academy is a week long program for students looking to continue their development in jazz
over the summer break from school. This program aims to develop ensemble techniques, improvisation,
knowledge of theory, and other musical skills needed for today's jazz student. The Academy's aim is to
also provide families a cost effective program that is also close in proximity to students in northern New
Jersey.

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The program runs from August 6 to August 10 at WMHS, with a student performance on the evening of
the 10th. Students currently in grades 7 & 8 should register for the morning 8am-11am session, while
students currently in grades 9-12 should register for the 12pm-3pm session. In addition, any students in
grade 9 who wish to participate in the morning session may register for that session instead.

For More Detailed Information: Please go to


http://www.wmhighlanderband.com/summer-arts-program​ or contact Miss Barry at
jordan.barry@wmtps.org​ (Choral) Miss McPartland at ​erica.mcpartland@wmtps.org​ (Concert Band) or
Mr. Gramata at ​matthew.gramata@wmtps.org​ (Jazz)

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