PORTSMOUTH HERALD

Performance excellence

PHS performing arts programs thriving

Jesse Scardina jscardina@seacoastonline.com
Portsmouth High School students from three performing arts programs pose with their awards. The percussion ensemble just won its division at the New England Championships, the choir received gold medals at its competition in New York City and the drama group qualified for regionals after its state competition performance. Photo by Ioanna Raptis/Seacoastonline

PORTSMOUTH – In the past two weeks, three separate city high school performing arts programs excelled on regional or national stages, showcasing the continued improvement and growth of the program over the last several years.

In a matter of days, the Portsmouth High School percussion ensemble completed an undefeated competition season, winning its division at the New England Championship. The PHS drama program qualified for the New England Regional competition for the first time since the 1990s. The school’s choir and select choir also received gold medals at the New York City Music Festival, their first performance on a national stage.

The increased success, according to Portsmouth Schools Performing Arts Coordinator Steve Cirillo, is the result of increased communal and administrative support, combined with a growing group of talented and motivated students.

“We have the support at the top,” Cirillo said. “A big focus in Portsmouth schools has been to find a way for kids to be successful.”

There’s been a long-lasting desire to keep enough artistic education in high schools, yet extracurricular classes such as dance or drama are always quick to become budget casualties, especially with added emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“I would say that many schools find performing arts programs desirable, yet schools have to make it a priority,” said Marcia McCaffrey, arts consultant for New Hampshire Department of Education. “Just like having a well-rounded education is important – that should include art education.”

McCaffery said communities that better support performing arts tend to be able to cultivate the programs and have them grow in size and quality – much like the growth in Portsmouth.

“There’s been a definite boost in the support in the past year both administratively and from the community,” said Alden Caple, drama director for PHS. “As our production quality increases, so does the community support and response. There are more and more people coming to our shows that have no connection with the high school or the drama program.”

Drama program

Drama program students had two weeks to learn and rehearse their 22-minute, one-act play based on Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” leading up to the regional festival in March before qualifying for the state festival last weekend.

“Everyone was prepared and the energy we ended up having on stage just flowed naturally,” said Jared Bush, a PHS drama student. “All the pieces fit together.”

The group, along with Gilford High School, will represent New Hampshire at the New England festival at the end of April at Camden Hills Regional High School in Rockport, Maine. Two schools from each New England state are competing – and the Portsmouth students believe they have what it takes to dazzle the judges.

“Our director has a clear vision and was able to put it together,” said student Danny O’Leary. “We’re completely devoted when we’re here. We don’t have time to slack off and goof around.”

It was the first time in six years that PHS had qualified for the state festival, competing against 11 other schools, and the first time in roughly 20 years that the school is competing on the New England level.

“We’ve grown in our ability during my years here,” said student Charlie Nitschelm. “That experience has helped.”

Choir shines in NYC

Starting as choir director four years ago, Olin Johannessen had lofty goals in mind for a five-year plan, including acceptance at the selective American Choral Directors Association conference, held in Boston in 2016.

Acceptance into the conference is based on audition tapes, which Johannessen is currently sifting through nervously, trying to find the performances that best showcase the choir.

One of those tapes will undoubtedly be from the choir’s recent performance at the Heritage/WorldStrides New York City Music Festival, where the group raised the roughly $50,000 it cost for the trip before excelling under the bright lights of the Big Apple. The event was held at the Riverside Church, with its arching stone cathedrals and enormous stained glass windows, and the venue helped the students rise to the occasion.

“For most of the choir, it ended up being even better than we expected,” said student Maddie Dintino. “The performance space was gorgeous and it was an incredible experience to be able to sing there.”

Being on that big stage gave the entire choral population confidence, which led to performances by both the overall group and the Madrigal Singers scoring above a 90 by all three college-level judges.

“It was our first time going to a national festival and we’re pretty excited for how the students did,” Johannessen said. “The performance venue added a lot to our feelings about it. It was a big stage.

“One of the things I hope the students took away from this is that it isn’t a culminating experience so much as a formative one for our program,” Johannessen added.

The next step is admittance to the application-based ACDA conference, which Johannessen will apply for in April, finding out if the choir is accepted sometime in June.

“We knew we’re capable of delivering a great performance like we did in New York,” said student Rhianwen Watkins. “It inspired us to keep up to that level that we accomplished. The idea of being at a national competition gives everyone that extra confidence boost.”

Percussion ensemble

Cirillo, who is also the director of the percussion ensemble, said the group of 30 students was the largest he had coached before.

“We’re usually limited to how many students we can have by how much equipment can fit in the truck,” Cirillo said, adding involved parents rented trailers to help tow more percussion equipment.

The ensemble competed at four events, including the New England Winter Percussion Championship, winning them all.

“It was a dream season,” Cirillo said.

While the ensemble earned a spot at the world championship in Dayton, Ohio, it is not making the trip, for several reasons.

“We know we’d be successful on the national stage, and we’ve been there before, but it also takes away resources from the other groups, too,” Cirillo said, adding he has a significant back problem that makes traveling difficult.

“I gave the group the opportunity to have me hire someone else and they would take them,” Cirillo said, before ensemble member Ama Carney interrupted.

“It wouldn’t have been the same,” she said.

Carney is one of three seniors on the ensemble, along with Gabrielle Leavitt and Seth Lampert, who has been on the high school percussion ensemble since seventh grade.

“Percussion ensemble provided me with another group I consider a family,” Lampert said.

And while each member of each organization touched on the familial component that drama, choir or percussion ensemble provides, the lasting impression could be the confidence it instills.

“There’s a real emphasis placed on the arts for its intrinsic value,” McCaffery said. “Those skills are intangible ones that businesses and organizations continue to look for. By participating in the arts and being part of a collaborative effort, it gives these students those skills. It’s not just he or she was in a musical.”

Being part of that group dynamic helped the students gain responsibility traits that aren’t always accessible in a typical classroom setting.

“Percussion has provided me with a way to be committed and dedicated to what I love,” Leavitt said. “I’ve understood that if I don’t do my job, the group is going to suffer the repercussions from that. It’s a motivation to be your best at something.”