Bravo to all of our Upper School singers and musicians who performed in the Winter Concert! The concert showcased three ensembles with over 50 students and celebrated the magic and music of the season. Our thanks to student photographer William Wang ’26 who captured this event! You can see more photos here.
Elements Dance Company and the Upper School Fall Dance Ensemble put on quite a show for their fall concert entitled All The Jazz. As a warm-up for the spring musical, Chicago, the lighthearted and energetic fall concert featured collaborative student work, original pieces by dance teacher Amy Grebe, video shorts, and even live accompaniment from student performers! Well done, dancers! Enjoy images from the concert by student photographer Eric Li ’24.
The Upper School Fall Play, Move Fast and Break Things by Mark Galarrita, was commissioned by Westtown School. This play began development with theater students in the spring of 2022. In this contemporary comedy, a group of teens enter a competition to create the next world-changing app. Their intentions are good but the consequences are unexpected.
The play featured 25 students on and offstage, and senior Ali Unrath designed costumes for this production. Galarrita visited the campus for the performances and met with students during his stay. Our thanks to playwright Mark Galarrita, Alex Ates, Director of Visual and Performing Arts, and all of the students who worked on this production. Well done! Enjoy the gallery of photos from the production here.
Congratulations to Mallory Peters ’23 whose piece “Historial Urn Replication” was selected into American Museum of Ceramic Art 2023 Annual High School Ceramics Exhibition. The exhibit features works by 109 students from 13 states, plus Washington, DC.
The Middle School and the Visual Arts Department welcomed guest artist Todd Drake to campus this spring. Drake is a printmaker, photographer, and educator, who worked with our students to create a permanent art installation in the Middle School main hallway. Drake and students made linocut prints inspired by the Quaker SPICES (simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship) and put together collages of these prints that now hang in the Middle School. “[They] beautifully reflect a few essential elements of our students’ experience,” shared Principal Will Addis. “These collages bring together the collected perspectives of nearly 100 students, creating something new and beautiful through collaboration…and remind us of the importance of making space for every voice. The ideas that inspired the students are built on the same values that guide our curriculum and program today and have also influenced Westonians for 224 years.” Drake’s visit was supported by Alex Ates, Director of Visual and Performing Arts, and Middle School art teachers Cindy Hodgson and Marta Willgoose Salo, who co-led this project. The next time you’re on campus, stop by the Middle School to have a look at the installations.
Upper School Musical
Our spring musical, Broadway Our Way, was a smashing success! We congratulate the 55 students onstage, backstage, and in Scenic Arts Design who put together such an incredible production. This musical review featured songs from Hadestown, Spring Awakening, Beetlejuice, and others. You can enjoy photos from the musical here.
Spring Dance Concert
The Spring Dance Concert, A Bouquet of Movement, featured wonderful performances by Elements Dance Company, Middle School Dance, and original pieces choreographed by other Upper School Students! You can appreciate their artistry in this gallery here!
Middle School Concert
Middle School’s final concert of the year was an opportunity for students to sing, play, and shine! In case you missed it, here is a gallery of photos of the Spring Concert.
Lower School Spring Concert
Lower Schoolers did an amazing job at their Spring Concert. Please enjoy the gallery of their performance here!
PMEA District Band Honors
Congratulations to our students Milo Salvucci ’23 (center), Ella Cook ’24 (right), and Solveig-Michael Daniels ’23 (left) who were invited to attended the PMEA District Band Festival, and a special shoutout to Milo! After being selected for District Band, District Orchestra, Region Band, and Region Orchestra, Milo has reached the highest level a high school musician can achieve by earning a place in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) All-State Festival music ensembles. For Milo, this is the third year in a row he has reached this level. This year, he was selected as the top percussionist in Concert Band. Congratulations to Milo and all our talented musicians!
Congratulations to the six Westtown students in 5th and 6th grade who were nominated to participate in the Chesco Band Fest: William Bromage, Norah Davidson, Felix Hopf, Hamilton Kreiling, Kayla Park, and Griffin Richards! These students participated in a one-day festival and worked with a guest conductor to rehearse and prepare music for an evening concert. This year’s fest took place at Owen J. Roberts High School and featured guest conductor Ken Kemmerer. We are proud of our young musicians!
Delia Sanchez’s ’27 sculpture was selected as a Juror’s Prize by the Council for Art Education and the Pennsylvania Art Educators Association—the piece will be on exhibit in the State Capitol. Pieces by Maura Wiggins ’27 and Maitreyi Vadigepalli ’27 were included in the association’s Youth Art Month exhibit. These pieces were produced in teacher Marta Willgoose Salo’s art class.
This winter, seven Upper School students were honored with 20 recognitions from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers!
Priyanka Acharya ’23: Gold Key for “Alone” (Visual Art); Gold Key for “Evolution of Change” (Three-Dimensional Visual Art); Gold Key for “Generational Change” (Visual Art); Silver Key for “Family Line”(Visual Art)
Chloe Baker ’23: Gold Key for “Striving in the Souls of Black Folk: Resisting Humanization” (Critical Essay);Honorable Mention for “Ending an Epic: What Modern Retellings of The Odyssey Get Right” (Critical Essay); Honorable Mention for “Disgust, Desire, and the Transfeminine Body” (Critical Essay); Honorable Mention for “Ouroboros” (Flash Fiction); Honorable Mention for “Pondscum” (Science Fiction and Fantasy)
Coco Chen ’25: Honorable Mention for “May God bless you” (Digital Art)
Peishan Huang ’24: Gold Keyfor “Enemy” (Short Story); Gold Key for “Jiajia” (Short Story)
Eric Li ’24: Gold Key for “Surveillance” (Photography);Silver Key for “Forgotten Home” (Photography);Silver Key for “Mother” (Photography);Silver Key for “The Builder” (Photography);Honorable Mention for “Ferry Terminal” (Photography); Honorable Mention for “Moon at Dawn” (Photography)
Jacob Liu ’25: Honorable Mention for “An Elegy of Home” (Poetry)
Tina Zhu ’25: Gold Key for “self-portrait” (Visual Art)
In other Upper School visual and performing arts news, carved ceramic tiles by Karah Blunt ’25 were selected by the National K-12 Ceramic Exhibition out of 1,300 entries nationwide, and percussionist Milo Salvucci ’23 and flutist Ella Cook ’24 ranked as the top and second musicians respectively in our district of the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association Honors Festival. They joined the District Band Festival with tubist Solveig-Michael Daniels ’23. Join us in congratulation these talented artists, writers, and musicians!
Elements Dance Company’s and the Upper School Winter Dance Ensemble’s Winter Dance Concert, entitled Movements on Equal Rights, was a celebration of those who fought for equity, justice, and belonging. Created collaboratively by dance teacher Amy Grebe, student dancers, and guest artist Inaijah Meaux, the pieces in this concert were inspired by lesser-known activists as well as Westtown’s own archival journalism; the work responds to decades of The Brown & White articles documenting the real-time reactions to equality movements by Westonians of the era. You can enjoy photos from their wonderful performances here and here. Photo credits go to students Eric Li ’24 and Dylan Precious ’24, respectively.
