Santa Monica High choirs are about more than singing

Saba Hamedy, a student at Santa Monica High School, writes:

On May 20 of last year, I breathed heavily, clutched my black binder, walked into the choir room and got ready to sing my heart out.  It was call back, and I was freaking out. To get into Madrigals, you have to be good at singing, good at blending, good at sight reading, good at rhythm and good at holding your own part. I was freaking out.

Now, four months later, I take my seat in second period Madrigals among 21 other eager and talented singers, juniors and seniors alike, and prepare to make music.

Singing. Laughing. Learning. Growing. These are the fundamentals of Samohi Choir that I learned last week at our Madrigals’ annual “retreat”: hours of rehearsing, activities, eating, and bonding. There, during one of the fun-filled group activities called “Dizzy Bats” (a game in which you spin around in circles with your head on the tip of a bat and then attempt to run in a straight line and tag your teammate before the other team does) my fate twisted … my ankle.

But instead of crying, I laughed. Instead of freaking out, I calmed down. Why? Because I had 21 people at my side for the rest of the 12 or so hours of the retreat. The girls iced, the guys carried chairs (and me) from place to place when necessary. And I still sang. I still bonded. I still had fun. It was then that I discovered what it means to be a part of Madrigals, or any Samohi choir for that matter. 

Youth orchestras take hold in L.A.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic's incoming music director, Gustavo Dudamel, has inspired more than professional musicians. As the most heralded graduate of Venezuela's program that brings free instruments and orchestras to mostly disadvantaged children, he has inspired Youth Orchestra L.A.

The Times' Joanna Lin writes about the effort to establish youth orchestras in under-served areas of Los Angeles.

Making music to encourage reading

Lloyd Miller, lead singer and bassist of the Deedle Deedle Dees, a popular East Coast-based educational rock band, will appear next week at L.A. public libraries for four free concerts.

The band encourages kids to read about historical figures such as Cesar Chavez, Satchel Paige and Amelia Earhart. Miller will perform solo at four branches, beginning with the Vernon Branch, 4504 S. Central Ave., at 1:30 p.m. on Monday. Later the same day, he will be at the John Muir Branch, 1005 W. 64th St., at 4 p.m.

On Tuesday, he plays at the Cypress Park Branch, 1150 Cypress Ave., at 2 p.m., and at 4 p.m. at the Lincoln Heights Branch, 2530 Workman St.

The concerts will include songs from the group’s two upcoming albums, one a new collection of American history songs, and the other a compilation of songs about animals and other living things.

-- Mary MacVean

Foshay choir students in documentary film

A documentary film about the 2003 graduating class of choir members from the Foshay Learning Center gets its premiere Saturday.

Photo: Tom Sturges conducts the Foshay Choir at the 2000 Democratic National Convention.

“Witness to a Dream” will be part of the Dances With Films Independent Film Festival in at the Laemmle Sunset 5 theater in West Hollywood.

The 72-minute film tells the story of a group of at-risk students who were mentored over six years by music executive Tom Sturges after he took part in a career day program at the school. Along with Assistant Principal Regina Boutte, Sturges reached out to students who were faced with challenges that threatened their academic success. Yet succeed they did.

Members of the choir had a 100% graduation rate, a 97% acceptance rate to four-year colleges and a 92% college graduation rate.

Over six years, the choir performed for more than 50,000 people, including former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, former California Gov. Pete Wilson, former California First Lady Sharon Davis, and others. The choir also performed at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. In addition, the students wrote, sang and recorded 10 songs.

Reginald D. Brown videotaped and directed the documentary. Regina Boutte and Tom Sturges are executive producers.

-- Mary MacVean

Millikan students travel to Beijing for Olympic Cultural Festival

After months of rehearsing, furious fundraising and high anticipation, 45 students from Robert A. Millikan Middle School and Performing Arts Magnet embark today on a once-in-a lifetime trip: performing at the 2008 Olympic Cultural Festival in Beijing.

Students from the Sherman Oaks school will be performing excerpts from their musical theater production of "Ain't Misbehavin,' " as well as ballet, jazz and hip hop dance numbers and musical pieces such as the Pink Panther remix and "Tequila" performed by the school’s jazz band.

Selection of the Millikan students to represent the U.S. is a coup for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

"These students have a unique opportunity to serve as ambassadors for our country, our community and our district while performing for the eyes of the world to enjoy," LAUSD Superintendent David L. Brewer said in a statement.

The group also includes two student violinists from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts and a violinist from Harvard Westlake, a private school, who will also perform.

The trip was arranged through the nonprofit Intercultural Educational Exchange Assn., which contacted the LAUSD about potential student performers. Millikan was chosen from a list of performing arts schools and sent copies of some of its production numbers to the Beijing Cultural Committee.

The school received the invitation in January, said assistant principal Leah Bass-Baylis. They then had to figure out how to cover the $3,000 per student costs of the trip.

A battle of the bands

Oliver Brown, a student in the music magnet at Hamilton High School, writes:

Pushing beaten half-stack amps and spray-painted guitar cases up Hollywood Boulevard, a group of musically minded high school students contended in the Blastbeat USA West Finals recently at the Musicians Institute. In a tremendous display of talent, these musicians came together to test their entrepreneurship and melodic ability in a nonprofit competition that is relatively new here in the United States.

                                                                                                                                                          

Dance charter school finds its rhythm

Gabriella Charter School says it might be the only dance-themed public elementary school in the nation. We don't know if that's true, but it sounds like fun. Students get one hour of dance instruction daily -- ballet, jazz, tap, creative movement and world dance.

 

But dance is not just dance at Gabriella:

Twice a week, in "reading In motion" classes, kindergartners and first-graders twist their bodies into letters while singing corresponding sounds.

In a school where most of the students are English learners, vocabulary is introduced regularly and systematically −− parts of the body, directions, places in the room. And students improve graphing skills by plotting points to choreograph a dance.

Last night, the school held its recital -- the photos above -- and on June 19, the school will celebrate its first culminating fifth-grade class. Twenty-five students will participate.

Grants for 'High School Musical'

Patrick Henry Middle School in Granada Hills was one of 10 schools awarded a $9,000 grants meant to encourage schools to stage productions of one of the young set's runaway hits, "High School Musical."

This photo shows the opening night performance last year of Disney's High School Musical live stage show at the Kodak Theatre.

The NAMM Foundation and Disney Channel announced the recipients of “Disney’s High School Musical: The Music in You Grant Program” at a recent trade show.

Patrick Henry was the only California school to win one. Its production is scheduled for June 12-13.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo by Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

The show may go on

The Times' Molly Hennessy-Fiske wrote recently about a musical performed at Dorsey High called "Phi'La" that explored African American-Latino relations. This morning we received some photos of the production, which is expected to be performed at other schools in the city.

At left, Dorsey student Godwin Thurton-McDonald sings "Expectations," one of the many original songs in the show about a black student from Philadelphia who moves to L.A. and falls in love with a Latina classmate.

                                                                                                                                             

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa presented Dorsey High drama teacher Jamal Y. Speakes and the drama department with a Certificate of Achievement for addressing African American/Latino racial conflict in the show.

-- Mary MacVean

Photos from Andreas Branch

Dorsey High musical looks at race

I went to a musical at Susan Miller Dorsey High School in South Los Angeles last night and left humming. And I generally hate musicals.

The song? "Expectations," an original piece composed for ""Phi'La," a new musical about a black student from Philadelphia who moves to L.A. and falls in love with a Latina classmate. Imagine "West Side Story" with a backbeat, Spanish-language raps and step-team choreography against a graffiti-scrawled backdrop.

Writer/director Jamal Speakes, a Philadelphia native and Dorsey drama teacher, said the show can be seen as a response to recent interracial violence in the city, such as the brawl at Alain Leroy Locke High School last week or the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Jamiel Shaw Jr. on March 2.

"The message we’re looking to send is that the students who are part of that community are willing to do whatever they can to make a change," Speakes said this morning. "We stereotyped our roles to show how silly this is. We really want people to see that if we don’t do anything about it, this madness will really hurt people."