Fine Arts News

At a ceremony on May 18, Mounds Park Academy theatre students celebrated the work of this year's graduating seniors, welcomed new initiates into the International Thespian Society, and paid tribute to founding faculty member Barb Bradley, who will retire at the end of this school year.

Barb Bradley was honored for her 32 years of service to the Mounds Park Academy Theatre Department, which she built from the school's first day in 1982. Countless productions later, Mrs. Bradley was recognized by her colleagues and the current and outgoing theatre students for her outstanding teaching and directing talents. 

Mrs. Bradley was honored with tributes from current and former students, families, and colleagues and presented with a Travel Gift of $2,800, amassed from donations from the MPA community.

The International Thespian Society (ITS) has been honoring excellence in the work of theatre students since 1929. Thespian troupes serve students in grades 9 through 12. As a reward for their hours of work within and around the theatre, initiates and members are given points towards an Honor Thespian ranking.

This year's ITS initiates from MPA are:

Logan Erickson
Andrew Grant
Angela Gerdts
Ali Herold
Jack Holter
Izzy Istephanous
Allison Leopold
Jenny Portis
Emily Rhodes
Emma Stacy
Michael Wilke

The Class of 2013 members who were recognized for their contributions to the MPA Theatre Department are:

Liza Amaral
Sarah Anderson
Sam Arsenault
Jackson Beck
Kip Hathaway
Rachael Kozen
Drew Maione
Malone Mischke
Rebecca Millberg
Emily Moses-Thomsen
Lucas Murphy
Benjamin Neumann-Chun
Connor Olsen
Kim Rolfs
Chrissy Saul
Callan Schackor
Sean Springer
Shain Trommler
Henna Vadher

Congratulations to all of these students on their theatre participation and achievements! View more photos from the ceremony here.

Please join us for the final Upper School Band Concert of the year on Wednesday, May 15th.  The annual spring Pops Concert is a favorite for both students and audience members.  The US Jazz Band will be opening the program with a great swing piece titled Out of the Dog House.  The closing selections for their part of the program are familiar to all and not to be missed!

The US Concert Band will be performing two medleys from the popular musicals Chicago and Les Miserables, as well as featuring the percussion section on two fun popular tunes.

The concert starts at 7:30pm in the Nicholson Center. As always, there is no cost for admission. 

This Friday and Saturday the cast and crew of Urinetown: The Musical will take the stage and we hope you will join us.  For those of you looking at the title saying, "Yuck!  Why would I go to see THAT?", read on.  The original Broadway producers give an exceptional answer to this question.  I hope it entices you to come see our talented students this weekend!  
-Melinda Moore, Spring Musical Director

The following letter was originally published in StageNOTESTM, an educational resource for theatre students.


"Urinetown?! They're kidding, right?"
"Why would I want to go to a show with a title like that?" "Why would I bring my students to see it?"

Okay-the title. Let's talk about the title.

Social satire has a long tradition of startling readers and audiences and shaking them loose from their traditional ways of thinking. From Aristophanes' Lysistrata to Saturday Night Live, satire has always broken the boundaries of public taste in order to make a point. Think of Jonathan Swift, who in his classic essay "A Modest Proposal," suggested that the children of the poor be eaten, neatly solving the problems of famine and population control.

Urinetown: The Musical draws on that tradition. If you don't know anything about it,you might not know what to expect. But unlike so many other pieces of entertainment one encounters these days - movies, television, even some books and plays - Urinetown has something to say about the world we live in. Not only that, it's both entertaining and educational.

Urinetown challenges your expectations. It has a self-awareness that makes you think about what you're watching. It draws on historical tradition - Brecht, Weill, Blitztein - and yet it pushes forward into new territory.

But most important (for any audience of students): it's funny, really funny!

Urinetown: The Musical has wit, it has intelligence - and it also has an enjoy- able surplus of vaudeville gags, physical comedy and low-brow humor. Want to get students doing more than sitting passively in their seats? Get them laughing, get them groaning, get them thinking. Take them to Urinetown.

Dear MPA Community,

It is with great regret that, due to illness, we must cancel the recital scheduled for May 7th at MPA.  We will be performing at 2pm on May 12th, at the Germanic American Institute at 301 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul. Tickets must be reserved by May 8th, and include Kaffee and Kuchen. Click here for more information.  We would love to share some music with you on Mother's day and hope to see you there!! 

Best Regards,

John Baldwin and Ronit Yalon 

For the second year, Applied Painting class is participating in the Paint A Piano Program through Keys 4/4 Kids.  Keys 4/4 Kids is a local non-profit founded by MPA alum, Newell Hill.  Keys 4/4 Kids refurbishes and sells pianos, using profits to help support art and music opportunities in low income neighborhoods.

In preparation for painting the instrument, the Applied Painting class studied the relationship between art and music.  They explored this theme in a variety of ways including the study of artist Wassily Kandinsky, whose work is closely related to musical compositions.  In addition to working on the piano together, students simultaneously were creating individual compositions also inspired by Kandinsky and another related artists.

The piano will be on display at our Upper School Semester Two Art Show, opening on Wednesday, May 22.  Then, it will be part of the Grand Old Day parade, along with other pianos from the Paint A Piano program.

For more information:  

http://keys44kids.com/ 

http://keys44kids.com/paint-a-piano-program  

We are pleased to say that we are again offering private band lessons at MPA this summer.  Private lessons are one of the most effective ways of making significant strides when it comes to developing individual playing skills on any instrument.  The benefits of private lessons include personalized attention, customized pace of instruction, and faster progress, to name just a few.  If you are interested in registering your child for private band lessons this summer, please contact Renae Wantock, or click here for the registration form.

Congratulations to Sofie Netteberg (grade 9, bassoon) and John Townsend
(grade 8, euphonium) who were selected through recorded auditions to
participate in the 2012-2013 Minnesota Band Directors Association
All-State Honor Bands.  Sofie is a member of the 9-10 Honor Band while
John is a member of the 6-8 Honor Band.

Both students were selected from over 220 students who auditioned for each of their respective bands.  They will rehearse with guest conductors on Saturday, April 20th and perform a concert on Sunday, April 21st at 2:00pm in the auditorium of Chanhassen High School.

The Honor Bands are an on-going project of MBDA, a professional
organization of band directors representing band programs of all grade
level from throughout the state of Minnesota.  The mission of MBDA is to
assist in the development of band directors and band programs in schools,
colleges, and communities throughout Minnesota.

Art 4 Shelter is an art benefit sale for Simpson Housing Services, whose mission is to house, support and advocate for people experiencing homelessness.

The Art 4 Shelter exhibit and sale is one night only, featuring over 1000 original works of art on paper. The works sell for $30 (for 5 X 7) and $150 (for  8 X 10).  The sale will be held at 7:00, May 2, 2012 at the Burnet Gallery, Chambers Hotel, in downtown Minneapolis.

The following upper school artists had artwork chosen to represent MPA at this event:  Aaron Hathaway, Michelle Galbavy, Margaret Lee, Alyssa Hokanson, and Jessican Jallen.  Congratulations to these five artists, and thank you to so many others that were willing to submit their work to be considered for this opportunity.   Sample batik paintings (seen attached) from last year's Applied Painting class are also being donated for sale at the event.

This is the third year that MPA has participated in Art 4 Shelter.  It is a great opportunity for our visual artists to exhibit their work in the community while helping to raise money for an excellent cause!

For more information: www.art4shelter.org and http://www.simpsonhousing.org/

Congratulations to the following artists
for having their work selected to be included in the
Minnesota Scholastic Art Awards Exhibition!
Their art work was included in the digital gallery
at the College of Visual Arts Gallery, St. Paul this past month. 

Charlotte Collanti, Grade 12- "Triptych", Drawing- Honorable Mention Award
Isabella McKeown, Grade 11, "Jam Session Set", Ceramics- Silver Key Award
Laura Nicholson, Grade 11, "Animal Pour", Ceramics- Silver Key Award
Jack Indritz, Grade 8, "Hummingbird Resting", Ceramics- Honorable Mention Award.

Congratulations to the following visual artists who had their work selected to be part of the Les Farrington Best 100 Juried Art Exhibition!

Ralph Dunn, Photography
David Rozinka, Ceramics
Andy Marnach, Ceramics
Eliza Edwards, Drawing
Aaron Hathaway, Mixed Media
Rachael Kozen, Painting

Nearly one thousand pieces were submitted by metro area high school students, and a panel of local jurors selected the "Best 100" to comprise the exhibit.  The opening reception and award ceremony will be at 6:30pm on Thursday evening, March 7, at the AZ Gallery, 308 Prince Street, St. Paul.  The artwork will be on display through the month of March.